The five best Statler and Waldorf scenes

Statler and Waldorf are two of the most famous The Muppet Show characters. Their sketches mainly involved heckling Fozzie Bear and mocking the acts featured on the show. They also starred in many of the Muppet movies, again usually in a heckling role. Fans loved their constant barrage of put-downs and general grumpiness which add a whole new level of humour to the show.

The sketches

The beauty of these sketches is that they are usually very short and to the point. The first sketch involves Stadler and Waldorf talking about the Phantom of the Soap Opera. The sketch ends with Statler jumping out of the box only for Waldorf to shout at him to bring popcorn with him when he returns. These two not only heckled Fozzie Bear, but they also turned their attention on the acts. A great example is the guys versus Milton Berle. This three minute sketch rips Berle apart, and shows exactly how how much the guests got the joke of them and played along. The third Sketch features Waldorf and Statler versus Bruce Forsyth and Fozzie Bear. This is funny because it’s one of the few times where Fozzie gets the upper hand. Forsyth does help him a lot, and the performances of the four actors builds up to a brilliant sketch that actually shuts the old geezers up! When the Muppets returned for The Muppets Tonight, Statler and Waldorf also returned. Most of their sketches involved them in a nursing home, but they lost none of the bite and humour. These sketches followed the same format, but didn’t have the same interaction. One of the best sketches involved the pair in Times Square being squashed by a giant remote control. It’s not the best sketch, but it is a very amusing sight gag. The final sketch is again from the original show. They are about to heckle a guest when Waldorf turns around and asks permission from Miss Piggy to like it. It’s amusing because it’s the only time when they seem to get the permission to heckle.

Conclusion

The fact that The Muppets created these old men characters, and that they became two of the most popular characters, is down to the writing and performances of the Jim Henson team. Along with Kermit and the rest of the gang, generations continue to laugh and be entertained by these wonderful, if amazingly crotchety old geezers and their constant bickering with the acts and in some sketches, with the audience of The Muppet show.