Statler and Waldorf

Statler and Waldorf are a pair of Muppet characters. They are two 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, except for one. (In one episode, Waldorf appeared alone at the beginning, explaining that Statler was sick, and that Waldorf's wife would substitute. Her name turned out to be "Astoria." She looked remarkably like Statler wearing a dress.) In The Muppet Show, the two were always trashing Fozzie Bear's poor jokes, 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. 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. As to why, the original version of The Muppet Show theme song had Statler admitting, "I guess we'll never know."

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, Statler stated that he didn't care for puppets much, not finding them believable. Waldorf 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.