Statler and Waldorf

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About

Statler and Waldorf are a pair of puppet characters created by Jim Henson for The Muppet Show starting in 1975 and consisting of two elderly men who are almost exclusively seen in balcony seats watching the performances of the other Muppets and rudely criticizing them. They are particularly harsh towards resident stand-up comedian Fozzie Bear, whom they aggressively heckle in the middle of his performances. For most of the show's other acts, Statler and Waldorf's criticism generally comes in the form of snide comments made after the skit in question, while the rest of the fictional audience is heard clapping.

Online usage

Of the secondary Muppet characters, Statler and Waldorf are among the most popular in modern internet culture by virtue of their uniquely cynical attitudes among the franchise's cast which are comparable to what is known online today as trolling. This comparison has been officially acknowledged in post-digital-age Muppet material, such as the below-shown video produced by Disney in 2009.

TV Tropes has, since its early days as a website, hosted a page for the characters, linked to at the ends of certain articles which textually depict them reacting to the respective page's subject in the vein of their comments on The Muppet Show.

In general memetic use, Statler and Waldorf are most commonly invoked in the contexts of reaction images and forum weapons.