The Pips (without Gladys Knight)

[lilsoccerplayer1900]

I have always loved this! i thought it was on Saturday Night Live. I'm glad I found it

[xxeena9911]

Classic. Still plays well after all that time. I love it!

[sliptirka]

It's funny 'cause they're black.

[ClimbForACause]

Not only funny, but important messages about the importance of leadership (and of the team behind it).

[jsphsntstvn]

Hilarious!!

[nkadvocate2011]

wheres the WOMAN????

[TheBarronEskind]

That's where I heard it from. HILARIOUS BTW.

[pickupnote]

Seth Godin?

[innerSpiritRattles]

I miss Richard.

[gbmar]

I was just telling this story to my office mate the Aussie and glad it was so easy to dial up on YouTube. I had forgotten there was a "Grapevine" intro!

[bunnasoo2]

Like so many other people who've commented here this has been in my brain for decades but had no idea what it was from. I didn't remember there even *was* a Richard Pryor show but I remembered this from it!

[PrincessJJ71]

Wasn't there a version of some opera guys doing a tribute to this idea? That is the one I saw. Cracked me up!

[dulcimerz2drumstix]

I have been looking for this forever! I knew it wasn't just my imagination. Thank you for posting !!

[RGSeaton]

I saw it way back when too. I thought it was Saturday night live.

[magicmistic]

Add one more to the "I saw it back then" crowd. Thank you so much for posting!!!

[overbrookXXX]

They were in some kind of legal thing for a couple of years where they couldnt perform together I had heard.

[HomesickNG]

My father was talking about this on a recent road trip. He thought it was Flip Wilson. I was a little young to remember, but I'm pretty sure we were watching the night this aired.

[MikeBlitzMag]

Like many others here, I also saw it when it originally aired. Thank God that someone had the foresight to preserve it. A classic!

[MookRyan]

Thank you SO much for posting this!! The last time I saw this was the night it aired on TV and I've never forgotten how funny it was. I've looked for it on Youtube from time to time and I'm really happy to have finally found it again - thanks!

[freselyncastillo]

I'm 61 years old now and I live in the Philippines and I was telling my wife about the night I saw the Pips appear on the Johnny Carson show without Gladis Knight and just sang the back up parts for Midnight Train to Georgia. I couldn't stop laughing telling her about it as I played the song on the computer and told her to try and imagine just the pips doing their dancing and all and sining only the back up parts. Like sooooooo many others who have commented here, I too want to thank Fishhead!

[moefrench]

I've been searching for pryor "the pips" forever hoping to find a clip of this...

Thanks so much FishHead33!

[Sunvio]

I saw this back then and I never thought I'd see it again! I never forgot it.

[MarkRTrost]

Absolutely hilarious

[ImLegendDude]

I saw this on the Richard Pryor Show in 1977. The Pips performing WITHOUT Gladys Knight! I thought it was the funniest thing ever!

[snoops71]

This is hilarious!!! Thanks for posting :)

[Benayrunyon]

I can't believe how many people besides myself remember this. It's funny how our memories differ as to where we saw this. I thought this was from a Steve Martin special!

[georgethedj]

I saw this live on a TV in a motel room in Chattanooga, TN, and I never got over it. I put the entire run of the Richard Pryor show on DVD on my Neftlix list, just so I could find this clip. Now, I don't have to look through all that. Thank you! "Midnight Train" was done the same way, with just the backup parts, as a sorority skit on another TV show with Jasmine Guy in a college somewhere. I forget the name of that show.

[Sheilz68]

Thank you so much for posting this. I remember seeing this once on TV when I was a kid and I always thought it was hysterical. I have been trying to describe this scene to my friends and have been searching forever for this. This is wonderful!

[irmavep2]

I think this act was originally done on Saturday Night Live, when the show was original and funny.

[hisstorymn]

I have been waiting to find this again! Brilliant!

[JimmyGiliberti]

yup.. .i thought it was Flip Wilson Show too !!! Thanks for posting!

[TheBeatSmith]

I remember watching this with my Mom...she said I ask her is Ms. Knight was on vacation like she was......yeah...moments with my mom...this is what I remember about this clip.

[hotlinkcinema]

Wow - this is performance art, man. Stunning. Just stunning.

[xxeena9911]

This is awesome. Agreed - very original and very funny!

[Lennon4life1968]

I was 9 years old when I saw this the first time and my Ma thought I was going nuts! It was the funniest thing I'd ever seen on TV.

[DamascusHounds]

OMG I have been looking for this for AGES since I saw it when it first aired! LOVE the Midnight Train. Funny funny stuff.

[rick89gts]

"I know you will" - always cracks me up :D

[rick89gts]

This is one of the most brilliant and humorous sketches/performances ever.

I, like many others here, recalled seeing this but incorrectly believed I saw it on SCTV. Thanks so much for posting this. I can't stop laughing :D

[archona4]

This brings back memories...thanks for posting it..

It's freaking hilarious.

[dancingbutrfli]

it truly is hilarious. My husband and I saw the Pips do this on a Chevy Chase special back in '77.  Guess they did it on several shows, but it is just too funny. Thanks for posting.

[jayleeking]

I brought the dvd set just for this

[JessieBrewer76]

I remember this! It was hilarious then & now!

[MsTexas73]

I can't stop giggling at this...SOOOO funny...but they're JAMMIN"...I miss the Pips.

[eXaVienne]

I still laugh at this...Richard Pryor ~ Genius

[hartness57]

I still remember the night I saw this on TV. I'm so glad to have finally found it. I too had thought it was on the Flip Wilson Show, it just seemed like something Flip would do. Gladys rocks, but the Pips solo is really special.

[poidog44]

@hartness57 I searched for it as The Pips on Flip Wilson.

I still think I'm right. :D

[DoofsterDan]

THANK YOU! I remember this--30+yrs later--as hilarious...heard the promotions announce the special guest as THE PIPS, thinking surely they slipped up...and when The PIps stepped up...migosh I lost it!...I'd forgotten which show it was...Thanks, again!!!

[joel7347]

Thanks for posting FishHead 33. And just like you legendnyc, my wife and I both thought we remembered it from a Flip Wison telecast.

[jhnyn]

Gotta love those pips

[redeem147]

That's hilarious!

[legendnyc]

Great clip! I remember it fondly, although I thought it was on a Redd Foxx show.

Title should be:

... and the Pips

[misanthrope8]

I laugh every time the camera shows the mic stand. LOL!

great stuff

[SoSupaStarry]

Gladys is the shit but i loved this, especially Midnight Train To Georgia. that was a cute skit and smart idea!

[bumperstickerguy]

For over 30 years I have told people about this bit. Most didn't believe it, or said I hadn't seen it right. But I insisted. In later years, even I started to have doubts. But thank you FishHead 33!! I have been vendicated!!!!

[joeldaniel2]

I told the same story. I looked for this video a few months ago and it was not out there. Thanks

[filly4billy2002]

Me too... just forgot where I saw it.

Thanks for posting!

LOL

[higgybaby1]

This was so funny. They also released their first lp during this time. At Last...The Pips. They performed on the Tonight Show too singing At Last My Search is Over.