Statler and Waldorf

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Statler and Waldorf
The Muppet Show character
Waldorf (left) and Statler (right)
First appearance	The Muppet Show:
Last appearance	Statler and Waldorf: From the Balcony
Created by	Bonnie Erickson
Portrayed by	Waldorf: Jim Henson (1975–1990), Dave Goelz (1992-present), Victor Yerrid (Statler and Waldorf: From the Balcony) Statler: Richard Hunt (1976–1991), Jerry Nelson (1975,1992-2001), Steve Whitmire (2002 - present), Drew Massey (Statler and Waldorf: From the Balcony)
Episode count	The Muppet Show: 120 Muppet Babies: 6 Muppets Tonight: 22 Statler and Waldorf: From the Balcony: 34 Reel Classic Extra: 11
Information
Aliases	Waldorf: P. Fenton Cosgrove, Uncle Waldorf, Robert Marley, Wally-D Statler: Uncle Statler, Jacob Marley, StatCat
Species	Muppet
Gender	Males
Age	(from first appearance on The Muppet Show) 33
Occupation	Hecklers
Family	None Known
Spouse(s)	Waldorf: Astoria Statler: Unknown
Address	The Muppet Theater Balcony

Statler and Waldorf are a pair of Muppet characters. They are two ornery, disagreeable old men who first appeared in the television series The Muppet Show heckling the rest of the cast from their balcony seats. They appeared in every episode of the show. In The Muppet Show, the two were always insulting Fozzie Bear's poor jokes, except for one occasion where Fozzie, with help from Bruce Forsyth, heckled them back. It is later revealed in the Muppet Family Christmas special that the two hecklers were friends with Fozzie's mother, Emily Bear. Despite constantly complaining about the show and how terrible some acts were, they would always be back the following week in the best seats in the house.

They also had a penchant for breaking the fourth wall. At the end of one episode, they looked at the camera and asked "Why do you watch it?", and in another one, Waldorf stated that he didn't care for puppets, not finding them believable. Statler responded with "I don't believe you!"

Statler and Waldorf are named after two New York City hotels, The Statler Hilton and the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.^[1] The muppets are rumored^{[by whom?]} to have been modeled after two of Jim Henson's college professors in the Theatre Department- University of Maryland, College Park. Statler is based on Dr. Ehrensberger while Waldorf resembles Dr. Pugliese.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 Performers 2 Later appearances 3 From the Balcony 4 In popular fiction 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Performers

In the pilot episode of The Muppet Show, Statler and Waldorf were performed by Jerry Nelson and Jim Henson; subsequently they were performed by Richard Hunt and Jim Henson. Beginning with The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), they were performed by Jerry Nelson and Dave Goelz. When Jerry Nelson left the Muppets to work for Sesame Street, muppeteer Steve Whitmire (also a puppeteer for Sesame Street) took over adding yet another new role to his credits; his first two were that of Kermit the Frog (Jim Henson) and Beaker (Richard Hunt).

[edit] Later appearances

In the 1996 series Muppets Tonight, based around a television show rather than a theatre, Statler and Waldorf were shown watching the show at a nursing home, but still making disparaging comments.

Statler and Waldorf also appeared (as adults) in the Saturday morning animated television series Jim Henson's Muppet Babies. Both characters were voiced by Dave Coulier. Unlike all other adults who visit the nursery in that series, Statler and Waldorf's faces are shown. The two were more friendly and jovial, and only occasionally grumpy, compared to their appearances on The Muppet Show.

A joke was made about the duo's nature in The Muppet Christmas Carol, where they played Jacob and Robert Marley. When Ebenezer Scrooge accuses them of always criticizing him, they reply "We were always heckling you." "It's good to be heckling again." "It's good to be doing anything again!" During multiple sequences there is a shop called "Statler and Waldorf". In a nod to their role on The Muppet Show, when Scrooge chalks their appearance up to indigestion-"There's more of gravy than the grave about you"- they retort with "What a terrible pun!" and "Leave comedy to the bears Ebenezer!"

In one episode of The Muppet Show they started heckling the opening number before it even started. Kermit decided to cancel it when Waldorf (sarcastically) guessed what it was: a Chinese gorilla dancing ballet. They were then allowed to perform an opening number of their own. After performing it, they were suddenly sitting on their usual balcony as if they'd teleported back during the applause. Waldorf then asked "Why can't they do numbers like that?" When Kermit remarked that they just did, the duo started to criticize it.

The duo are featured characters in Disney's Jim Henson's Muppet*Vision 3D in Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disney's California Adventure Park. They also make a cameo appearance in Pixar's short film Presto, where they can be seen in their theater box.

The Muppet Newsflash: A Jim Henson News Blog announced on Sept. 17, 2009, that Statler and Waldorf will release a book titled From the Balcony in 2010.^[2]

[edit] From the Balcony

See: Statler and Waldorf: From the Balcony

[edit] In popular fiction

• Both made an appearance in Marvel Team-Up #74. In this issue, Spider-Man teams up with the cast of Saturday Night Live to battle the Silver Samurai. Statler and Waldorf appear in typical style as hecklers on a balcony.

• They also made an appearance on the animated television show Family Guy. In the episode "Petergeist", they watch Lost with Peter and Lois from a balcony. After Peter comments on the great episode they just watched, Waldorf says "Well, at least the show's got the right name." Statler replies "Yeah, I couldn't follow any of it!" and the two burst into laughter. Peter then remarks that "they don't care for most things."

• They appear at the end of Weezer's video for the song "'Keep Fishin'". They comment that the performance wasn't half bad, before adding that it was all bad.

• In the Teen Titans episode "Bunny Raven", the Titans are trapped in Mumbo's hat in a theater filled with Mumbo look-alikes. Among them are two eldery men sitting in a lodge who, like Statler and Waldorf, make fun of certain features of the show.

• On the song "The Black Hole" by HORSE the band, the track ends with Statler and Waldorf celebrating the song and then talking themselves into decrying it as "terrible".

• On September 18, 2009, Statler and Waldorf were shown in a routine on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien called "Statler and Waldorf Heckle Obama", consisting of a video recording of President Barack Obama at a health care rally, with old Muppet Show clips of Statler and Waldorf interspersed within it.^[3]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Statler and Waldorf on Muppet Wiki, an external wiki