'You've got to put the talent somewhere'

hen Amy Bergstein worked for MTV’s "House of Style" a few years ago, she and the other employees had to build a green room from scratch so the models and celebrities had somewhere to relax between on-location shoots at a beach in Miami. While she had fun decorating in a tropical theme, Bergstein, 28 – now manager of VH1’s New York studio – sees the advantages of a permanent building. "It’s nice working in a studio, because you have a green room, it’s all set up, you have somewhere to go," she said. "You always need a green room no matter where you are, because you’ve got to put the talent somewhere."

Green rooms – which are not particularly likely to be green nowadays – are offstage rooms where television guests, and sometimes hosts, congregate as they wait for air time. The rooms had their start back in the theaters of the late 17^th century as a waiting room for actors (see "Why art thou green?"). But while the meaning has shifted with the medium and few associate it with theaters any longer, green rooms are still all about waiting.

Couches, chairs, phones and at least one TV – tuned to the show on which the guest is about to appear – are generic green room accessories. Some green room walls are lined with celebrity photographs. Weatherman Al Roker and "Today" show hosts Katie Couric and Matt Lauer are among the faces to grace the green room walls of the NBC morning program. A picture of Lenny Kravitz giving a concert hangs in VH1’s green room.

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