|
Statler and Waldorf are a pair of Muppet characters known for their cantankerous opinions and mutual penchant for heckling. The two elderly men first appeared in ''The Muppet Show'', where they consistently jeered the entirety of the cast and their performances from their balcony seats. Statler and Waldorf are named after two New York City hotels, the Statler Hilton and the Waldorf-Astoria.〔''(The Stories Behind 20 Muppet Favorites ),'' mental floss〕 In ''The Muppet Show'', the two were always trashing Fozzie Bear's humor, except for one occasion where Fozzie, with help from Bruce Forsyth, heckled them back. In contrast, they found ''themselves'' vastly entertaining and inevitably burst into mutual laughter at their own witticisms (though, they would, on several occasions, heckle each other, too). It is later revealed in the ''A 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. As to why, the original version of ''The Muppet Show'' theme song had Statler admitting, "I guess we'll never know." They appeared in all but one episode of the show. They later appeared in ''Muppets Tonight'' watching on television from a retirement home. They also had a predisposition 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, Statler stated that he didn't care for puppets much, not finding them believable.〔''(Statler and Waldorf compilation ).'' youtube.com〕 Waldorf responded with "I don't believe you!" ==Performers== In "Sex and Violence," the pilot episode of ''The Muppet Show'', Statler and Waldorf were respectively performed by Jerry Nelson and Jim Henson. Nelson was unavailable for the first few weeks of production on ''The Muppet Show''. As a result, Richard Hunt took on the role of Statler. Hunt and Henson would continue to perform the two characters until Henson's death in 1990. Beginning with ''The Muppet Christmas Carol'' (1992), Statler and Waldorf were respectively performed by Jerry Nelson and Dave Goelz. When Jerry Nelson left the Muppets citing health reasons, Muppeteer Steve Whitmire took over as Statler. The duo were occasionally performed by Drew Massey (Statler) and Victor Yerrid (Waldorf) throughout 2005 and 2006, most notably in the web series ''Statler and Waldorf: From the Balcony''. For unknown reasons, Kevin Clash filled in for Goelz as Waldorf in a few episodes of ''Muppets Tonight''. Whitmire and Goelz remain the two characters' principal performers. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Statler and Waldorf」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|