Statler and Waldorf are a pair of Muppet The Muppets are a group of puppet characters created by Jim Henson. Individually, a Muppet is one of the puppets made by Jim Henson or his company's workshop. Although the term is often used erroneously to refer to any puppet that resembles the distinctive style of The Muppet Show the term is both an informal name and legal trademark linked to the characters. They are two ornery, disagreeable old men who first appeared in the television series A television program , television programme (in most Commonwealth countries and Ireland) ), or television show (USA/UK) is something that people watch on television. It may be a one-off broadcast or part of a periodically recurring television series The Muppet Show The Muppet Show is a television program featuring a cast of Muppets, which was produced by Jim Henson and his team from Sesame Street. The show stars Kermit the Frog as a showrunner who tries to keep control of the antics of the other Muppet characters , as well as keep the human guest stars happy and secure. The television show depicts a heckling The term originates from the textile trade, where to heckle was to tease or comb out flax or hemp fibres. The additional meaning, to interrupt speakers with awkward or embarrassing questions, was added in Scotland, and specifically perhaps in early nineteenth century Dundee, a famously radical town where the hecklers who combed the flax had 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 A Muppet Family Christmas is a 1987 Christmas television special starring Jim Henson's Muppets 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 The fourth wall refers to the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play. The term also applies to the boundary between any fictional setting and its audience. When this boundary is "broken" , it is called "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 New York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment. As host of the United Nations headquarters, it is hotels, the Statler Hotel The Statler Hotel company was one of the United States' early chains of hotels catering to traveling businessmen and tourists. It was founded by Ellsworth Milton Statler in Buffalo, New York and the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The muppets are rumored to have been modeled after two of Jim Henson's college professors in the Theatre Department- University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park is a public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland outside Washington, D.C. Founded in 1856, the University of Maryland is the flagship institution of the University System of Maryland. The university is considered to be a Public Ivy. At a total. Statler is based on Dr. Ehrensberger while Waldorf resembles Dr. Pugliese.

Contents

Astoria

Waldorf's wife, Astoria, appeared in Episode 413 of The Muppet Show, with guest star Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie [/gɪˈlɛspi/] was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, singer, and composer. He was born in Cheraw, South Carolina, the youngest of nine children. Dizzy's father, James, was a local bandleader, so instruments were made available to Dizzy. He started to play the piano at the age of 4. His father had. Waldorf's explanation to Kermit is that Statler is sick (of the show) and instead Waldorf's wife Astoria has taken Statler's ticket. A common theory is that because Astoria is the Statler puppet in women's clothing, then Astoria is Statler's sister, making Statler and Waldorf brothers-in-law. However, such a fact is never mentioned onscreen in any episode of The Muppet Show.

Performers

In the pilot episode of The Muppet Show, Statler and Waldorf were performed by Jerry Nelson and Jim Henson James Maury "Jim" Henson , was one of the most widely known puppeteers in American history. He was the creator of The Muppets. He was the leading force behind their long run in the television series Sesame Street and The Muppet Show and films such as The Muppet Movie (1979) and creator of advanced puppets for projects like Fraggle Rock,; subsequently they were performed by Richard Hunt and Jim Henson James Maury "Jim" Henson , was one of the most widely known puppeteers in American history. He was the creator of The Muppets. He was the leading force behind their long run in the television series Sesame Street and The Muppet Show and films such as The Muppet Movie (1979) and creator of advanced puppets for projects like Fraggle Rock,. 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 Sesame Street is an acclaimed American educational children's television series and a pioneer of the contemporary educational television standard, combining both education and entertainment. Sesame Street is well known for its Muppet characters created by Jim Henson. It premiered on November 10, 1969, and is the longest running children's program, 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 Kermit the Frog is a Muppet, one of puppeteer Jim Henson's most famous creations, first introduced in 1955. Kermit was performed by Henson until his death in 1990. Since then he has been performed by Steve Whitmire. He was voiced by Frank Welker in Muppet Babies and occasionally in animation (Jim Henson James Maury "Jim" Henson , was one of the most widely known puppeteers in American history. He was the creator of The Muppets. He was the leading force behind their long run in the television series Sesame Street and The Muppet Show and films such as The Muppet Movie (1979) and creator of advanced puppets for projects like Fraggle Rock,) and Beaker (Richard Hunt).

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 This is a list of animated television series. Animated television series are television programs produced by means of animation. This list does not feature animated theatrical short series as those were produced for theaters. This list includes compilation series of theatrical shorts such as The Bugs Bunny Show since they often feature new wrap- 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 Jacob Marley is a fictional character whose ghost appears in the Charles Dickens novel A Christmas Carol and Robert Marley. When Ebenezer Scrooge Ebenezer Scrooge is the main character in Charles Dickens' 1843 novel, A Christmas Carol. He is a cold-hearted, tight fisted, selfish man, who despises Christmas and all things which engender happiness. A quote from the book reads "The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, made his eyes red, his thin lips blue, and 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 gravey 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 Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. Spanning 135 acres in size, its theme is show business, drawing inspiration from the heyday of Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s. The third park built at the resort, it opened on May 1, 1989 as Disney-MGM 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.

From the Balcony

See: Statler and Waldorf: From the Balcony

In popular fiction

References

External links

Categories: Fictional duos | The Muppets characters

 

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