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Statler And Waldorf From the Balcony

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the muppets-with-attitude dept.

An Anonymous Reader wrote in to mention Statler and Waldorf From the Balcony, a short feature on movies.com where the surly Muppets review current films. From the site: "This Week's Episode - Will War of the Worlds' aliens scare off our cranky coots? Will Bewitched be the end of Will? Plus, Pepe the Prawn begs Miss Congeniality to cuff him."

43 of 155 comments (clear)

  1. hello by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    this sucks!!! doesn't it?

    1. Re:hello by NoData · · Score: 4, Funny


      Why do we always troll here?
      I guess we'll never know.
      It's like some kind of torture
      To try to get first post!

    2. Re:hello by plover · · Score: 2, Funny
      This is not off topic, this is the most on-topic funniest post in this whole damn /. story!

      You moderators who don't know the muppets should stick to talking like Charlie Brown's adults. "Wah woh wa wa wah whoa."

      --
      John
    3. Re:hello by jaseparlo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Nope you haven't lost your edge. The Muppet Show had independence, and cleverness, the guests weren't there spruiking their latest movie or album, they were just there to entertain. This however is just selling movies. The characters weren't in character, they did cheap trouser gags instead of clever kids humour. Crap

      --
      All available data suggest that regardless of any of this, the sun will still come up tomorrow.
  2. Boo! Horrible Story! Worst Story Ever! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well, it's not as bad as some of Zonk's other stuff. Yeah, it's not a dupe. I suppose this is okay. Yeah, it's not bad. In fact, it's pretty interesting. I'd like more stories like this. Encore! Encore!

    1. Re:Boo! Horrible Story! Worst Story Ever! by Kristoffer+Lunden · · Score: 2, Funny

      Statler: Ah, there's nothing like a good story.
      Waldorf: And that was nothing like it.

      --
      Spine World
  3. The last vestige of chilhood innocence has died by Beebos · · Score: 4, Insightful

    When the Muppets have sold out, there's no use in fighting it anymore. The world is a dark, despicable place. I might as well join the dark side. Can anyone think of any great ways I can screw my fellow man?

    1. Re:The last vestige of chilhood innocence has died by yroJJory · · Score: 5, Informative

      Uh, Disney owns the Muppets now (with the exception of the CTW Muppets). They are already (unfortunately) "sold out".

      --
      Jory
    2. Re:The last vestige of chilhood innocence has died by identity0 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Darth Vader: "I am pleased at your faith in the dark side, Beebos of Slashdot. You wish for more of the dark side? Take the special edition Dark Side(r) M&Ms(tm) to feed the inner darkness of your soul, and together we can rule the galaxy!"

      Bart: "Don't worry, amigo. Here, have a crunchy, peanut-buttery Butterfinger(tm) bar to make you forget the pain of childhood memories selling out. Aye carumba!"

      Leonardo: "Whoa, hang on a sec, duuude! Eveyone knows the best comfort food for a crime fightin' turtle is a hot slice of Domino's(tm) fresh baked pepperoni pizza! Just eat one up, and you'll be kickin' butt in no time! Cowabunga, dudes and dudettes!"

      Oscar: "Just do what I do when I start to feel down and think my life is a miserable failure. Crawl into a big, comfy garbage can stuffed with newspapers for warmth and cuddle with a nice bottle of Stolichnaya(r) vodka and soon you'll forget that you're the laughingstock of Sesame Street and children beat you senseless with sticks everyday while laughing, always laughing... *sob* - *gulp* *gulp* Ahhhh, much better... Now come here, Elmo, let me show you some fun things you can do when you don't wear pants...."

  4. Not even close... by Duncan3 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The voices, manerisms, etc are all WAY off...

    Are any of the muppets not being pimped now? Miss piggie and kermit are selling pizza, ugg...

    --
    - Adam L. Beberg - The Cosm Project - http://www.mithral.com/
    1. Re:Not even close... by yroJJory · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There's a reason for that. Both Jim Henson and Richard Hunt are no longer living.

      --
      Jory
    2. Re:Not even close... by plopez · · Score: 2, Funny

      Are any of the muppets not being pimped now? Miss piggie and kermit are selling pizza, ugg...

      Hey, I was jusy happy to see Alf get out of rehab and pick up some commercial work. I heard his coke problem made John Belushi look like a Boy Scout.

      And the "Pets.com" sock puppet get out of 'club fed' after being convicted on 'pump and dump' internet stock charges. I hope he can rehab also and become a contributing member of society. :)

      --
      putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
    3. Re:Not even close... by The+Archon+V2.0 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      > Miss piggie and kermit are selling pizza, ugg...

      Worse than that, remember the ads for Denny's?

      With Miss Piggy ordering several large breakfasts?

      Immediately followed by a shot of said breakfasts, which included bacon?

      My inner child died the day I saw Miss Piggy advocating cannibalism.

    4. Re:Not even close... by learn+fast · · Score: 2, Funny

      Both Jim Henson and Richard Hunt are no longer living.

      Neither are their legacies

      :(

  5. Forced Muppet Labor by TheStonepedo · · Score: 5, Funny

    I waldorfed violently from my balcony when I saw that muppets were being abused. Do we call PETA or ACLU on this one?

    --
    I'll be your candy shop of infinite deliciousity if you'll be my discotheque of endless rump-shaking.
  6. It's not very good... by Nimrangul · · Score: 5, Interesting
    The voices are poor imitations of their originals.

    The writing is pretty bad, nothing witty or zinging about it.

    They don't bad mouth it properly, even when an act was amazing on the Muppet Show they'd hate it. With this they're playing it too soft.

    I think it would be hard for them to have come up with a worse idea, except maybe if it were to get into extremely bad racist jokes, violence and sexual content. That's about the only thing they could have done to make this a worse desecration of my childhood.

    --
    I'm sick of following my dreams - I'm just going to ask them where they're going and hook up with them later.
    1. Re:It's not very good... by grasshoppa · · Score: 2, Informative

      I can only agree with the parent post. This was horrible.

      Now, granted, I grew up watching the muppets and I would still gladly watch them today ( reruns of course ). They were smart and funny. Simply amazing works of art.

      So I went into this with somewhat high hopes.

      I have to say, this is the first time slashdot has really let me down.

      --
      Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
    2. Re:It's not very good... by SilentChris · · Score: 2, Interesting

      You mean the Muppets are different because the writers, puppetteers, etc. are different than they were over 20 years ago? Gasp!

      Newsflash: your childhood was not all it's cracked up to be. Atari wasn't that good, the B-52s were NEVER cool, some of the writing on the Muppet Show downright stunk. Funny? Nearly always. But rarely "witty or zinging".

      I laughed. That's all that really matters. If you don't like it *gasp again!*, click your close button.

    3. Re:It's not very good... by SuperBanana · · Score: 2, Interesting
      They don't bad mouth it properly, even when an act was amazing on the Muppet Show they'd hate it.

      And they'd make some pretty clever jabs, too- like the time when their "opinion" of the show dropped through the floor over the course of about 5 seconds.

      S:"You know that wasn't half bad."
      W:"It was okay."
      S:"I've seen better."
      W:"It was pretty bad!"
      S:"It was horrible!"
      W:"Booo!"
      S:"Booo!"

      Much of the beauty of S&W was that you ONLY saw them doing their brief little bit, and that little bit was pure 100% comedy. Plenty of muppet characters were grumpy (Miss Piggy comes to mind), but with S&W, they were like an espresso shot of comedy. Everyone could also identify with the stereotypical cranky old guy who pipes up out the middle of nowhere and just says something completely off the wall or obnoxious.

      Whoever did this obviously has no appreciation for why Statler and Waldorf worked.

      I think it would be hard for them to have come up with a worse idea, except maybe if it were to get into extremely bad racist jokes, violence and sexual content.

      Apparenly you didn't stick around long enough for Pepe's review of "Miss Con'gentialia', about a HOT FBI agent, she can (something something- sorry, supressed the memory already) me anytime" etc etc. Jim Henson just flew clear out of his grave and did a back-flip somersault.

      PS:If anyone can find online the letter Jim Henson wrote to be read at his memorial service, they'll have my eternal gratitude. I've never found it, and it was terrific (I'll never forget his sister reading it, and the audience laughing at "and that's final, because I'm DEAD and you can't argue with me about it").

      --
      Please help metamoderate.
    4. Re:It's not very good... by learn+fast · · Score: 2, Informative

      Feel better. Watch the originals and screw Disney out of the royalties they don't deserve.

    5. Re:It's not very good... by jaseparlo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      your childhood was not all it's cracked up to be

      No it wasn't, some things stand the test of time and are still good now, some things you try them out now and wonder what on earth you saw in it when you were young. Go back and watch old Muppets episodes. They were good, and still are.

      --
      All available data suggest that regardless of any of this, the sun will still come up tomorrow.
  7. To quote the originals... by squidsoup · · Score: 3, Funny

    "That was TERRIBLE!"

  8. Sorry by Ironweaver · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sorry I'm afraid we're all out of waldorfs

  9. On the snooze-ometer... by Pampusik · · Score: 2, Funny

    Zzzzzzzzz...

  10. That made me want to slam my head on my desk by suitepotato · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If only Henson had lived, we might not be visited with these travesties.

    --
    If my grammar and spelling are off, I am [distracted/tired/careless] (take your pick)
  11. WiMP?! by Hes+Nikke · · Score: 2

    well, with all the other comments, i'm now glad that i'm now able to view it. (why bother to support yet another format?)

    --
    Don't call me back. Give me a call back. Bye. So yeah. But bye our, well, but alright we are on a shirt this chill.
  12. sorry disney... by TheHawke · · Score: 2, Interesting

    But the original hecklers on the muppet show had more venom than what these jokers had to show..
    Better scripting fellas!

    --
    First rule of holes; When in one, stop digging.
  13. Saw the video... by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 2, Funny

    after the first 5 seconds, the slashdot monster cut the power.

    No, not funny.

  14. I knew this day would come... by nmoog · · Score: 2, Funny

    Nows my chance to sell all the wasabi-peas I've collected that look like statler and/or waldorf.

    Good times ahead!

  15. Muppet Porn? by Saeed+al-Sahaf · · Score: 4, Funny
    ...Pepe the Prawn begs Miss Congeniality to cuff him...

    Does this imply some sort of Muppet porn flick? I'd watch that for a dollar!

    --
    "Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
  16. No longer living... by ihatewinXP · · Score: 2, Funny

    No longer living doesnt mean that we cannot expect a comporable performance. Elvis is dead as well but I saw him perform last week - and let me tell you the guy has not lost a step.

    I was never a real muppet fan but these characters always killed me, it was sad to see that the creative team behind this little endeavor didnt make sure that the characters were "done right."

    But hey, this was a first, hopefully they will take the constructive criticism and go back to work.

    --
    ---- The real Slashdot is still here. You just have to browse at -1 to read the comments.
  17. And MOV is better? by spoco2 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Yeah, no, instead let's all happily link to mov files instead... oh, wait, we need a propriety player for that too.

    Oh, and if I actually want to watch it fullscreen I have to PAY for the damn privilage... I don't think so.

    Ridiculous anti MS drivel.

    And yes, I know there are alternatives to using quicktime itself... but there are for wmv files too... I didn't write the first post did I?

  18. When's the funny part start? by noewun · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If you listen carefully you can hear Jim Henson doing 6,000 rpm in his grave.

    --
    I am a believer of momentum and curves.
  19. I guess I'm the only one who liked it. by interstellar_donkey · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Weird.

    People have been accusing me of being out of touch with the rest of the world. I guess this cements it.

    I thought it was funny, and the kind of thing I'd watch every week. Not super funny, mind you, but good enough to see again.

    --
    The Internet is generally stupid
    1. Re:I guess I'm the only one who liked it. by pete-classic · · Score: 2, Funny

      Maybe everyone is just doing their Statler and Waldorf impression?

      -Peter

    2. Re:I guess I'm the only one who liked it. by globalar · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I think it's the disapointment in seeing the Muppets not only blattently commercialized, but also out of character and poorly voiced. Dialogue and characters are so important, even when the actors are using puppets.

      Beside, on /. people go nuts over Han Solo's penchant to shoot first. This is like changing him into a raving homosexual (not that I care about your sex life).

  20. Way Off.. by Thinko · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They strayed from everything that made these guys funny in the first place..

    Way too much chatter, and far too 'happy'.. it's supposed to be short glib responses that are cynical and comedic, not conversational or 'talk-show-host'.

    Way to totally miss the boat on this one, this is a disgrace.

  21. Not as bad as suggested. by fussili · · Score: 2, Interesting

    There's a lot of negativity about it but it's not that bad. I'll admit the voice of Statler is FAR off and seems strained but Waldorf isn't that bad. If they had better voicing for Statler and were more acerbic then it'd be excellent, as it is it's still entertaining. I get the feeling most of the ./ers just tuned out after the WotW preview but if you watched it all the way they lay into Will Farrell and the Bewitched film pretty heavily :) In true keeping with their character. Tighten up the writing, replace Statler's voice and this is a hit.

  22. Just not the same anymore. by Warlock7 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The original voices for Statler and Waldorf are two members of the original team, who have passed away.

    Richard Hunt, who was the original voice of Waldorf, he passed away in 1992. Jim Henson was the original voice of Statler and the world lost him back in 1990.

    It seems that the new voice of Waldorf is now being performed by Dave Goelz who is the voice of Gonzo the Great, Fozzie Bear and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew. While, now, Jerry Nelson is doing the voice of Statler. Mind you, it's a reprise of the role. He played it in one of the original pilots for the show, 'Sex and Violence'.

    All in all, the new voices completely bother me. I have to say that the new voices bother me more than anything else about the new Muppets. It makes it very difficult to try and be objective about the new Muppets when Jim Henson was personally responsible for many of the characters' voices.

  23. Disney needs their monopoly of childhood memories by b00m3rang · · Score: 2, Informative

    They'd never sell.

  24. Quicktime sucks. by b00m3rang · · Score: 2, Insightful

    To answer your question, everyone who runs Windows, and many people running alternative OSes with players that support WiMP's codec set... which is a lot of people.

    How can you be so enamored with a player that doesn't even support playlists, anyway?

  25. Re:*waves hand* by Eclypser · · Score: 2, Funny

    When 900 years old you are, review movies you should not.

    --
    The comment has already been made. Let's move it along people. Nothing to see here.
  26. Re:I remember the Muppet show by redheaded_stepchild · · Score: 3, Funny

    After the cameras are off
    Statler: I can't beleive it's come to this.
    Waldorf: Well, it can't get any worse.
    Statler: They made me smile! And for a movie I didn't even see!
    Waldorf: You think that's bad? I'm still waiting for this freak to get his hand out of my butt!

    --
    Don't use the Troll mod just because you disagree with me.