<P> Statler and Waldorf are a pair of Muppet characters known for their cantankerous opinions and shared penchant for heckling . The two elderly men first appeared in The Muppet Show in 1975, where they consistently jeered the entirety of the cast and their performances from their balcony seats . </P> <P> Created by Jim Henson, the characters have been performed by numerous puppeteers, including Henson, in a variety of films and television productions within the Muppet franchise . Statler and Waldorf are named after two New York City hotels, the Statler Hilton and the Waldorf - Astoria . </P> <P> The characters are known for their heckling . In The Muppet Show, the two were always criticizing Fozzie Bear's humor, except for one occasion where Fozzie 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 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 ." </P> <P> They also had a predisposition for breaking the fourth wall . Author Ben Underwood remarked on how the characters generally "blur the boundary between performer and audience", as they are "concurrently audience members and performers". Underwood points to a second season incident in which the characters see themselves watching the Muppets, with Statler skeptical, saying "No one would watch junk like that". </P>

Pictures of the two old guys on the muppets