'The Office' Dedicates Episode To Internet Piano Prodigy

Last night's Office rerun brought a tear to our eye, and not because of the hilarious antics of that wacky Dwight Schrute. In case you missed it, at the end of the episode they showed an incredibly sweet video of a 15-year-old boy playing The Office theme on his piano, followed by an "In Memoriam" note. That boy was Nathan Alden Robinson, who died last month of complications from the flu.

According to the Boston Globe:

A few weeks before his death, Nathan was at a friend's house, and the two were talking about The Office their favorite television show. Nathan's friend suggested he play the theme music to the program, so Nathan looked online for the sheet music. Nathan mastered the song almost instantly, and his impromptu performance was filmed and posted on YouTube.

Showing it on television was lovely gesture from the folks at The Office, and we just thought we'd pass it along.

Nathan Alden Robinson, 15; shone as student, pianist, friend [Boston Globe]

4:05 PM on Fri Apr 4 2008
By Nick Malis
14,052 views
7 comments

Comments

nolongerinacubiclestil... at 04:09 PM on 04/04/08
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I saw this too and was wondering about the back story so thanks :)
People Paula at 04:27 PM on 04/04/08
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If Hollywood makes a movie of his story, there couldn't be anyone better to do it than his partial namesake, Field of Dreams writer/director Phil Alden Robinson.
disinterested 3rd party at 05:42 PM on 04/04/08
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Jesus. How sad. Complications of the flu? What century was he living in?
videogoddess at 07:34 PM on 04/04/08
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I thought this was so sweet, and then began to get the sinking feeling that this young man was not okay. Very sad. Classy move by the show, though.
Athaliah at 08:28 PM on 04/04/08
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@disinterested 3rd party: This century, unfortunately.

"The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 35 to 50 million Americans come down with the flu during each flu season.The CDC estimates that in the US more than 100,000 people are hospitalized and more than 20,000 people die from the flu and its complications every year."

[www.unitedjustice.com]
wgadeepthroat at 07:55 AM on 04/05/08
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"Showing it on television was a lovely gesture from the folks at The Office, and we just thought we'd pass it along" ....

Your statement is COMPLETELY DISINGENUOUS AND HYPOCRITICAL. For a website that prides itself on ripping apart and mocking ANYONE AND EVERYTHING IN HOLLYWOOD that wreaks of sentimentality or "heart", your unadulterated endorsement of what NBC's The Office did is pathetic. At least admit the truth: your real motive here isn't to pay homage to a dead child: it's to shamelessly kiss the ass of Greg Daniels (The Office's showrunner) so that he'll read your spec script. Had "Two and a Half Men" posted the a video tribute to a kid who recently died, you'd be attacking it mercilessly. So let the world know that the struggling writers at Defamer are just as phony and unethical as the very people you criticize on a daily basis.
Midge at 01:09 PM on 04/09/08
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@wgadeepthroat: Please. Like an entry on Defamer is going to turn on some magical greenlight for Nick or anyone associated with Gawker. If that were the case, I'm sure most Defamer correspondents, et al., would have been eagerly lifting their shirts long ago.