NBC Pipes



In 1964, Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Don Sahlin and Jerry Juhl were guests on The Jack Paar Program on NBC. Having some time to fill in between the rehearsal and the performance, Oz looked in the closet of their dressing room and was startled to discover that it was filled with dark, dusty pipes. Since the Paar studio was not far from Henson's company headquarters in New York, Henson suggested that the crew go back to get some paints and fake fur with which to decorate the pipes.

The group worked hard on decorating the pipes in as many silly and imaginative ways as possible. The pipes soon had monstrous eyes, goofy noses, and multi-colored faces. Henson later revealed that part of the brown fabric had come from the original Grover. The bottom was signed "With Love From the Muppets." The signature originally included "Represented by William Morris" (Jim's agent at the time), but it was later painted over in black by the studio before putting it on air. Everyone intended to leave the pipes behind without mentioning it to the folks at NBC, as sort of a light practical joke. Someone at NBC discovered their work almost immediately, though, and Paar loved the pipes so much that he brought a camera backstage during the show so that people could see it.

NBC told Henson and company that the pipes would be painted over the next day. Since the painting had come about as a lark, and they were just passing time, Henson and the others didn't have a problem with that. However, the next day's painting somehow never happened, and the pipes went largely forgotten about for 16 years.

In 1980, while doing some remodeling in (what was at that time known as) the RCA building, the construction workers discovered the pipes. Though they had been told to knock out everything, the bizarre-looking pipes caught the workers' attention, and they asked NBC for confirmation that the pipes should be removed. After further investigation, it was decided to keep the pipes as they were, and Henson was brought in to film a segment of The Today Show on April 18, 1980 with Gene Shalit, explaining the history of the pipes. Shalit jokingly commented that the pipes would now be kept forever in the building as a museum piece.

In 1984, Jack Paar appeared on Late Night with David Letterman and took Letterman on a tour around the studio to show him the Henson pipes. Paar says, "Now, I never won a lot of awards. But I have something that's so rare, and so touching to me." He later continues, "When I opened this door, you'll see a tribute that was made to me..."

In 1992, a photo of the pipes appeared in Christopher Finch's book Jim Henson: The Works. It remains unclear if the photo was from 1964, 1980, or taken just before the book's publication.

In 1993, the backstage area began being used for Late Night with Conan O'Brien. The pipes were in a closet in Max Weinberg's dressing room. In 2009, Jimmy Fallon took over late-night duties, and he strongly encouraged NBC to make the pipes part of the backstage 30 Rock tour. Fallon displayed the pipes during a satellite interview on The Jay Leno Show on February 12, 2010.

In 2010, Brian Williams brought Frank Oz back to see the pipes for the first time in many years, causing Oz to emotionally comment that he was "the last man standing" from the original group. Soon, Fallon's plan came to fruition, and the pipes were officially unveiled as part of the tour with a "ribbon-cutting" ceremony featuring Oz, Fallon, and Meredith Vieira, once again on The Today Show. Just as Shalit once jokingly predicted, the pipes will now forever be part of the tour as a testament to the creativity of Jim Henson and his business associates.