The Pipes, the Pipes are Calling
June 9, 2010 6:38 PM Subscribe
In 1964, a group of men were bored,in their dressing room waiting for several hours between the dress rehearsal and recording of "The Jack Paar Program". Noticing a collection of odd steam pipes, their leader suggested they decorate the pipes to pass the time. Painting them and attaching fur and googly eyes, they signed the piece "With Love, From the Muppets".
The men were told that it would be painted over the next day. 16 years later, workmen who were told to rip out everything behind the walls of the sixth floor stopped to get clarification. The Today Show took notice and Jim Henson came on to discuss what he, Frank Oz, Don Sahlin and Jerry Juhl had done on that day in 1964.
In 1983, Jack Paar showed the closet to David Letterman on his old Late Night show. He said, "Now, I never won a lot of awards. But I have something that's so rare, and so touching to me." and brought Dave to the old dressing room to show to his audience.
10 years later, Dave moves on and the dressing room becomes Max Weinberg's until last year. The pipes were hidden away in a closet. When Jimmy Fallon took over Late Night (and, as such, most of the sixth floor), he urged NBC to preserve the pipes.
This week, they did just that. Through misty-eyes, Frank Oz recalled to Brian Williams the creation of the pipes while also lamenting that he was the "last man standing" from the group. During a ribbon cutting this week, it was added to the NBC Experience tour.
posted by The otter lady at 6:44 PM on June 9, 2010 [4 favorites]