Statler And Waldorf From the Balcony

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Statler And Waldorf From the Balcony 155

Posted by Zonk on Sunday July 03, 2005 @08:30PM 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."

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Statler And Waldorf From the Balcony

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hello (Score:5, Insightful)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Sunday July 03, 2005 @08:32PM (#12976298)

this sucks!!! doesn't it?

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- Re:hello (Score:2)
  
  by srw ( 38421 ) * writes:
  
  Yes. Yes, it does. That was the lamest piece of big-media self-promotion I've seen in a long time. I couldn't watch the whole thing... I got somewhere into the "miss congenitalia" bit and gave up.
  
  Anyways, sorry you got modded down for your most insightful comment.
  - Re:hello (Score:2)
    
    by ericdano ( 113424 ) writes:
    
    What? I thought it was funny.
    - - Re:hello (Score:2)
        
        by MBraynard ( 653724 ) writes:
        
        No, not it wasn't. They totally ripped BeWitched. It was great. I actually subscribed so I could know when the updates are coming out. It was really funny.
        These are legit reviews, not just promos.
  - Re:hello (Score:2)
    
    by Martin Blank ( 154261 ) writes:
    
    Actually, they rather bashed Bewitched.
  - Re:hello (Score:2)
    
    by delta_avi_delta ( 813412 ) writes:
    
    Parent: "Blah blah blah" modded Offtopic Child: "What?! You dumbass mods, that was insightful" Parent modded +4 Insightful... I'm sorry but there's noght especially insightful about "That sucks".
- Re:hello (Score:5, Funny)
  
  by NoData ( 9132 ) writes: <<moc.oohay> <ta> <_ataDoN_>> on Sunday July 03, 2005 @09:21PM (#12976540)
  
  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!
  
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  - Re:hello (Score:3, Funny)
    
    by plover ( 150551 ) * writes:
    
    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."
- Re:hello (Score:2)
  
  by __aaclcg7560 ( 824291 ) writes:
  
  The old farts lost their edge. Then again, I haven't seen the Muppet Show in 20+ years so I might be an old fart who lost his edge. Oh, well. Old farts never die, they just fade away. :P
  - Re:hello (Score:3, Insightful)
    
    by jaseparlo ( 819802 ) writes:
    
    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
    - Re:hello (Score:2)
      
      by Master of Transhuman ( 597628 ) writes:
      
      I remember when Statler and Waldorf took on Milton Berle.
      
      He was doing a monologue and they told him he was too close to the audience and to back up. He backed up. They said back up farther. He backed up farther. They told him to back up farther. He asked how far?
      They said, "Do you have a car?"
      
      Ba-doom! Thank you! I appear here most evenings!
      - Re:hello (Score:2)
        
        by Orgazmus ( 761208 ) writes:
        
        I appear here most evenings!
        
        Really?!?
Boo! Horrible Story! Worst Story Ever! (Score:5, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Sunday July 03, 2005 @08:33PM (#12976306)

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!

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- Re:Boo! Horrible Story! Worst Story Ever! (Score:3, Funny)
  
  by Kristoffer Lunden ( 800757 ) writes:
  
  Statler: Ah, there's nothing like a good story.
  Waldorf: And that was nothing like it.
The last vestige of chilhood innocence has died (Score:5, Insightful)

by Beebos ( 564067 ) writes: on Sunday July 03, 2005 @08:37PM (#12976325)

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?

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- Re:The last vestige of chilhood innocence has died (Score:5, Informative)
  
  by yroJJory ( 559141 ) writes: <me@[ ]y.org ['jor' in gap]> on Sunday July 03, 2005 @08:44PM (#12976367) Homepage
  
  Uh, Disney owns the Muppets now (with the exception of the CTW Muppets). They are already (unfortunately) "sold out".
  
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  - Re:The last vestige of chilhood innocence has died (Score:2)
    
    by Nimrangul ( 599578 ) writes:
    
    I wonder if people could pull a Blender on this, get fundraiser to buy the rights to the Muppets, in order to save it.
    It failed with Enterprise, but I'm sure more people liked the Muppets than StarTrek.
    
    A pity I'm too lazy to even consider contacting Disney for a price that we'd have to meet to get the rights away from them.
    - Disney needs their monopoly of childhood memories (Score:3, Informative)
      
      by b00m3rang ( 682108 ) * writes:
      
      They'd never sell.
      - I wouldn't get your hopes up (Score:2)
        
        by b00m3rang ( 682108 ) * writes:
        
        Considering how many first posts I've seen marked 'Redundant', I'm not holding my breath for total compliance with sane moderating practices :)
  - - Re:The last vestige of chilhood innocence has died (Score:2)
      
      by yroJJory ( 559141 ) writes:
      
      Kermit did not get sold to CTW; he is now owned by Disney.
- Re:The last vestige of chilhood innocence has died (Score:2)
  
  by FunWithHeadlines ( 644929 ) writes:
  
  "Can anyone think of any great ways I can screw my fellow man?"
  Well, since the films are in Windows Media format, I think the place where you can do that should be obvious.
- Re:The last vestige of chilhood innocence has died (Score:2)
  
  by buckhead_buddy ( 186384 ) writes:
  
  Beebos wrote:
  
  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.
  Try watching the dark side "switch" [pixelred.com] commercial for some help.
  Statler & Waldorf weren't bad, but they aren't quite cynical enough nor funny enough to think that this will go beyond a handful of episodes.
  Personally, I didn't think Bewitched deserved the savaging reviews most reviewers gave it (there have been many, many worse movies lately).
- Re:The last vestige of chilhood innocence has died (Score:2)
  
  by sgant ( 178166 ) writes:
  
  You know, I first started watching this and I was thinking it was lame and a little about what you say is that they "sold out"...
  
  But then I continued watching it and all of a sudden, a smile crossed my face...then when it got to Pepe the shrimp I actually had some pretty funny things. "Miss Congenitalia 2". lol.
  
  Anyway, as jaded and cynical as I think I am, some things actually break though and make me laugh. To paraphrase Mr. Burns "I don't know much about art, but I know what I hate...and I don't hate th
- Re:The last vestige of chilhood innocence has died (Score:3, Funny)
  
  by identity0 ( 77976 ) writes:
  
  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 i
Not even close... (Score:5, Insightful)

by Duncan3 ( 10537 ) writes: on Sunday July 03, 2005 @08:40PM (#12976338) Homepage

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...

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- Re:Not even close... (Score:5, Insightful)
  
  by yroJJory ( 559141 ) writes: <me@[ ]y.org ['jor' in gap]> on Sunday July 03, 2005 @08:46PM (#12976374) Homepage
  
  There's a reason for that. Both Jim Henson and Richard Hunt are no longer living.
  
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  - No longer living... (Score:3, Funny)
    
    by ihatewinXP ( 638000 ) writes:
    
    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.
  - Re:Not even close... (Score:3, Funny)
    
    by learn fast ( 824724 ) writes:
    
    Both Jim Henson and Richard Hunt are no longer living.
    
    Neither are their legacies
    
    :(
  - - Copyrights may be forever, but... (Score:2)
      
      by uberdave ( 526529 ) writes:
      
      Copyrights may be forever, but the visions and ethics of the creators do not often survive their deaths.
- Re:Not even close... (Score:3, Funny)
  
  by plopez ( 54068 ) writes:
  
  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. :)
- Re:Not even close... (Score:2, Interesting)
  
  by The Archon V2.0 ( 782634 ) writes:
  
  > 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.
- Re:Not even close... (Score:1)
  
  by DarkAurora ( 324657 ) writes:
  
  Agreed. Terrible.
- Re:Not even close... (Score:2)
  
  by Angostura ( 703910 ) writes:
  
  Exactly. I watched about a minute, but the voice acting was so bad that I couldn't watch any further. Sounded like a couple of students trying to *do* the characters.
Forced Muppet Labor (Score:5, Funny)

by TheStonepedo ( 885845 ) writes: on Sunday July 03, 2005 @08:42PM (#12976355) Homepage Journal

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

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- Re:Forced Muppet Labor (Score:2)
  
  by NitsujTPU ( 19263 ) writes:
  
  Since those guys were among the few human muppets, the ACLU.
It's not very good... (Score:5, Interesting)

by Nimrangul ( 599578 ) writes: on Sunday July 03, 2005 @08:43PM (#12976360) Journal

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.

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- Re:It's not very good... (Score:3, Informative)
  
  by grasshoppa ( 657393 ) writes:
  
  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.
  - Re:It's not very good... (Score:2)
    
    by John Harrison ( 223649 ) writes:
    
    /. let you down? Don't you mean Disney?
    I thought it was pretty weak, but the shrimp got in at least two good lines.
    - Re:It's not very good... (Score:2)
      
      by grasshoppa ( 657393 ) writes:
      
      No, slashdot. For posting this crap.
      
      They took two of my favorite characters from one of my favorite shows and perverted them in a horrific way.
      
      It would be like big bird pushing viagra.
      
      That this comes from disney is not surprising, they are one of the worst souless companies out there. That an editor of slashdot would endorse this enough to post this is the true tragedy here.
      
      Which is why this particular editor's posts will no longer be seen by me.
      - Don't shoot the messenger (Score:2)
        
        by b00m3rang ( 682108 ) * writes:
        
        Slashdot has no control over the quality, they just wanted to let you know that it was out there. Why would you block the editor, instead of the submitter.
        
        You must have been trained by the government on how and where to assign blame, weren't you?
        
        Re:Don't shoot the messenger (Score:2)
        
        by grasshoppa ( 657393 ) writes:
        
        So...the editor has no say whether or not to post it?
        
        Your logic is..baffling.
        
        Re:Don't shoot the messenger (Score:2)
        
        by b00m3rang ( 682108 ) * writes:
        
        On this site, the editors mainly just post articles as submitted by the readers. In doing this, they're posting stories that are of interest to the readers. Judging by the response, there appear to be many readers interested in the topic.
      - Re:It's not very good... (Score:2)
        
        by John Harrison ( 223649 ) writes:
        
        So if /. had never posted it then your favorite characters would be intact? What if you had seen the link on Fark? Would you blame Fark?
        What if you ran across it on your own. Would you have the consistency to blame yourself?
- Re:It's not very good... (Score:3, Interesting)
  
  by SilentChris ( 452960 ) writes:
  
  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.
  - Re:It's not very good... (Score:2, Insightful)
    
    by jaseparlo ( 819802 ) writes:
    
    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.
  - Re:It's not very good... (Score:2)
    
    by Stanistani ( 808333 ) writes:
    
    >the B-52s were NEVER cool...
    
    Au contraire!
    
    I thought Ops Linebacker I & II were VERY cool!
    
    Lots of new parking lots in Hanoi...
  - - Re:It's not very good... (Score:2)
      
      by SilentChris ( 452960 ) writes:
      
      I will give this man a crisp $100 bill if he steps forward to claim it.
- Re:It's not very good... (Score:2)
  
  by michrech ( 468134 ) writes:
  
  Sex? Did you miss the DVD part where "Ms. Congenetaila" was announced?
  
  This is the stupidest thing I've ever seen. The voices were WAY off, the acting was HORRIBLE, they weren't really all that negative at all.
  
  I hope this is the ONLY 'episode' that is created. If they make any more, the spinning in Hensen's grave will spin him right out of it (to hopefully take revenge on those who created this crap).
  
  --
  telnet://sinep.gotdns.com [gotdns.com] -- TW2002 and LORD registered!
- Re:It's not very good... (Score:3, Interesting)
  
  by SuperBanana ( 662181 ) writes:
  
  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
  - Re:It's not very good... (Score:2)
    
    by Martin Blank ( 154261 ) writes:
    
    A most appropriate quote, courtesy of IMDB:
    
    Waldorf: Just when you think this show is terrible, something wonderful happens.
    Statler: What?
    Waldorf: It ends!
  - A clue to the funeral letter... (Score:2)
    
    by Dave21212 ( 256924 ) writes:
    
    There's a book an Amazon [amazon.com] called "What a Way to Go: Fabulous Funerals of the Famous and Infamous" about interesting funerals, and Jim Henson's in it. They don't have the entire letter, just a quote which might help you...
    
    Yeah, I searched a bit and couldn't find *anything* which is odd, since I thought the entire human collective knowledge was out there :)
    
    Good luck ! Post it or email me if you find it.
- Re:It's not very good... (Score:3, Informative)
  
  by learn fast ( 824724 ) writes:
  
  Feel better. Watch the originals [thepiratebay.org] and screw Disney out of the royalties they don't deserve.
- Re:It's not very good... (Score:2)
  
  by fm6 ( 162816 ) writes:
  
  I think it would be hard for them to have come up with a worse idea...
  
  Coming up with bad ideas for TV shows is not, alas, very hard.
- Yip, Yip...Book...Book (Score:2)
  
  by pipingguy ( 566974 ) writes:
  
  Sesame Street, 25 of My Favorite Memories [progressiveboink.com]
To quote the originals... (Score:3, Funny)

by squidsoup ( 145936 ) writes: <kitsune@noctur n e . net.nz> on Sunday July 03, 2005 @08:43PM (#12976363) Homepage

"That was TERRIBLE!"

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Sorry (Score:4, Funny)

by Ironweaver ( 894947 ) writes: on Sunday July 03, 2005 @08:43PM (#12976364)

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

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Heard about it... (Score:2)

by strredwolf ( 532 ) writes:

Two weeks ago. I'm waiting for them to update it for their take on this weeks' movies.
On the snooze-ometer... (Score:2, Funny)

by Pampusik ( 458223 ) writes:

Zzzzzzzzz...
That made me want to slam my head on my desk (Score:5, Insightful)

by suitepotato ( 863945 ) writes: on Sunday July 03, 2005 @08:51PM (#12976403)

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

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- Re:That made me want to slam my head on my desk (Score:2)
  
  by Minwee ( 522556 ) writes:
  
  What, are they wearing dresses now?
WiMP?! (Score:3)

by Hes Nikke ( 237581 ) writes: on Sunday July 03, 2005 @08:57PM (#12976440) Journal

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?)

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sorry disney... (Score:3, Interesting)

by TheHawke ( 237817 ) writes: <rchapin@nOSpam.stx.rr.com> on Sunday July 03, 2005 @08:57PM (#12976441)

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

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Saw the video... (Score:3, Funny)

by Spy der Mann ( 805235 ) writes: <`moc.liamg' `ta' `todhsals.nnamredyps'> on Sunday July 03, 2005 @09:01PM (#12976454) Homepage Journal

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

No, not funny.

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- Re:Saw the video... (Score:1)
  
  by AndroidCat ( 229562 ) writes:
  
  after the first 5 seconds, the slashdot monster cut the power.
  Where can I get a copy of that monster? A blackout would have great.
what the (Score:1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes:

fuck was that?

i expected some witty and funny stuff and all i got was the content mafia abusing two puppets to promote their latest brain farts.
I knew this day would come... (Score:3, Funny)

by nmoog ( 701216 ) writes: on Sunday July 03, 2005 @09:18PM (#12976531) Homepage Journal

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

Good times ahead!

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Muppet Porn? (Score:5, Funny)

by Saeed al-Sahaf ( 665390 ) writes: on Sunday July 03, 2005 @09:19PM (#12976532) Homepage

...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!

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- Re:Muppet Porn? (Score:2)
  
  by siliconjunkie ( 413706 ) writes:
  
  Does this imply some sort of Muppet porn flick? I'd watch that for a dollar!
  
  Ah, but it's been done [imdb.com]
  - Re:Muppet Porn? (Score:2)
    
    by zuvembi ( 30889 ) writes:
    
    And the best part about it is that it's done by Peter Jackson. Yes, that Peter Jackson.
  - - Re:Muppet Porn? (Score:2)
      
      by Nachtfalke ( 160 ) writes:
      
      Here [theonering.net] is the trailer in DivX format.
- Re:Muppet Porn? (Score:2)
  
  by Wolfrider ( 856 ) writes:
  
  Animal: "WANT WOMAN!!!"
  ( Wild Muppet sex ensues )
- Re:Muppet Porn? (Score:2)
  
  by mh101 ( 620659 ) writes:
  
  Perhaps... He did actually call the movie Miss Congenitalia ...
- - Re:Muppet Porn? (Score:2)
    
    by Saeed al-Sahaf ( 665390 ) writes:
    
    Sorry, I just don't buy that, but it's funny anyway.
Ugh (Score:2)

by coyote4til7 ( 189857 ) writes:

Hmmm... Disney borged the muppets and is finally slutting them out. It seems strangely appropriate that it's delivered only via a Microsoft product. Although you would think if they were going to slut out characters they would have stuck with one that didn't have any standards... Cranky old guys should never been slutted out. Too darn unappealing to pull it off.
Yeeesh! (Score:1)

by AndroidCat ( 229562 ) writes:

Whatever happened to Thugs on Film?
Hey, I liked it. (Score:2)

by Flounder ( 42112 ) writes:

Of course, I'm easily amused, which explains why I enjoyed War of the Worlds.
An aside..

Their rating of WotW was falling asleep in the beginning to be awoken by the massive explosions.

Went to see this with my dad, who actually did fall asleep during the beginning of the movie. And the explosions didn't even wake him up, I had to poke him awake.
When's the funny part start? (Score:5, Insightful)

by noewun ( 591275 ) writes: on Sunday July 03, 2005 @09:35PM (#12976601) Journal

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

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- Re:When's the funny part start? (Score:2)
  
  by learn fast ( 824724 ) writes:
  
  Here's what you do:
  
  Run a belt down there, and have it turn a rotor that runs into a dynamo. From the current that is generated from this, power a large Disney logo sign. This will, naturally, make him spin faster. Which will make the logo brighter. Which will make him spin faster. And so on.
  
  You can see what this leads us to. The laws of thermodynamics are being broken in this house. But perhaps not if we consider grave-spinning a supernatural force. This allows us to keep thermodynamics in most conditions
I guess I'm the only one who liked it. (Score:5, Interesting)

by interstellar_donkey ( 200782 ) writes: <pathighgateNO@SPAMhotmail.com> on Sunday July 03, 2005 @09:35PM (#12976602) Homepage Journal

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.

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- Re:I guess I'm the only one who liked it. (Score:2, Funny)
  
  by pete-classic ( 75983 ) writes:
  
  Maybe everyone is just doing their Statler and Waldorf impression?
  
  -Peter
- Re:I guess I'm the only one who liked it. (Score:3, Insightful)
  
  by globalar ( 669767 ) writes:
  
  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).
- Re:I guess I'm the only one who liked it. (Score:2)
  
  by MBraynard ( 653724 ) writes:
  
  I agree with you - I enjoyed it and I am happily way out of touch with the world. And I did sign-up so I would get an email notice each week when the new one came out. It's MUCH better than the Chris Gore reviews on AOTC. Like you said, not super funny, but funny enough.
Way Off.. (Score:4, Insightful)

by Thinko ( 615319 ) writes: on Sunday July 03, 2005 @09:42PM (#12976636) Homepage

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.

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Not as bad as suggested. (Score:3, Interesting)

by fussili ( 720463 ) writes: on Sunday July 03, 2005 @11:05PM (#12976940)

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.

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Just not the same anymore. (Score:4, Insightful)

by Warlock7 ( 531656 ) writes: on Sunday July 03, 2005 @11:10PM (#12976972)

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.

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- Re:Just not the same anymore. (Score:2)
  
  by JLyle ( 267134 ) writes:
  
  I don't think that's even the original voice of Pepe the Prawn, and he's a (relatively) new character.
  - Re:Just not the same anymore. (Score:2)
    
    by Warlock7 ( 531656 ) writes:
    
    I'm fairly certain that it is the same voice for Pepe.
    
    Bill Barretta [imdb.com] has performed Pepe the Prawn since "Muppets Tonight" back in 1996.
    
    He also does that voice for Pepe in the new "Muppets Wizard of Oz".
    
    I don't believe Pepe existed prior to "Muppets Tonight".
    - Re:Just not the same anymore. (Score:2)
      
      by JLyle ( 267134 ) writes:
      
      I just listened to it again and maybe you're right. In this clip Pepe's accent is leaning a little more towards a Mexican one instead of Cajun, and I think that's what's throwing me off. But off course, Pepe's accent has always been a little vague (part of his charm). ;)
      - Re:Just not the same anymore. (Score:2)
        
        by Warlock7 ( 531656 ) writes:
        
        I was more surprised to learn that Barretta does the voices of Johnny Fiama, Dr. Teeth, Rowlf the dog and the Swedish Chef too.
Miss Congenitalia! (Score:2)

by Master of Transhuman ( 597628 ) writes:

Best line - and it wasn't even delivered by Statler or Waldorf.

They need a new compatriot in the balcony - somebody named Hilton would do...

How are those trousers coming?
This is news? (Score:2)

by Minwee ( 522556 ) writes:

How much did An Anonymous Reader pay for this content-free advertisement?
- Re:Proprietary WMV files = crap (Score:1, Insightful)
  
  by Anonymous Coward writes:
  
  Suck it up, would you rather it be in garbled DivX?
- And MOV is better? (Score:3, Insightful)
  
  by spoco2 ( 322835 ) writes:
  
  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?
  - Re:And MOV is better? (Score:2)
    
    by l0ungeb0y ( 442022 ) writes:
    
    WTF are ou talking about?
    The parent post mentioned nothing about .mov.
    
    But when I went and saw WMP load in Safari, I clicked out. Not because I'm anti-MS, but anti any propriatory format posted online -- it's just tactless and shows a complete lack of understanding of just what the hell the internet is.
    
    Personally, the only acceptable file format for the web at large is mpeg. .wmv, .mov and others should be used only for offline/in-house purposes or specialty cases.
    
    As an aside, I agree with your rant about
  - Re:And MOV is better? (Score:2)
    
    by Thu25245 ( 801369 ) writes:
    
    MOV is a container format. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QuickTime#QuickTime_f ile_format [wikipedia.org]
    
    Some codecs used in QuickTime like Cinepak and Sorensen are proprietary, but (for example) MPEG-4 is not. (Although MPEG-4 does involve patents, licenses are available to anyone.) Not like WMV, where every codec has to be reverse-engineered.
    
    Ridiculous anti-Apple drivel.
  - Re:And MOV is better? (Score:2)
    
    by Concerned Onlooker ( 473481 ) writes:
    
    Yeah, no, instead let's all happily link to mov files instead... oh, wait, we need a propriety player for that too.
    Yes, but at least MOV files play correctly. I guess I shouldn't expect much, but on my Mac wmv files have never played correctly and the player itself is awful. With the QT viewer at least the sound and video stay relatively synced and you can play the thing back as many times as you like without having to re-stream. Or whatever is happening when you click the play button in Windows Media
- Re:Pepe's description of Miss..... (Score:2)
  
  by stimpy ( 11763 ) writes:
  
  No. It's just a coincidence that all the previous posts that mentioned it spelled it that way.
- Quicktime sucks. (Score:3, Insightful)
  
  by b00m3rang ( 682108 ) * writes:
  
  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?
- Re:*waves hand* (Score:2, Funny)
  
  by Eclypser ( 618863 ) writes:
  
  When 900 years old you are, review movies you should not.
- Re:I remember the Muppet show (Score:3, Funny)
  
  by redheaded_stepchild ( 629363 ) writes:
  
  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!

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hello (Score:5, Insightful)

Re:hello (Score:2)

Re:hello (Score:2)

Re:hello (Score:2)

Re:hello (Score:2)

Re:hello (Score:2)

Re:hello (Score:5, Funny)

Re:hello (Score:3, Funny)

Re:hello (Score:2)

Re:hello (Score:3, Insightful)

Re:hello (Score:2)

Re:hello (Score:2)

Boo! Horrible Story! Worst Story Ever! (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Boo! Horrible Story! Worst Story Ever! (Score:3, Funny)

The last vestige of chilhood innocence has died (Score:5, Insightful)

Re:The last vestige of chilhood innocence has died (Score:5, Informative)

Re:The last vestige of chilhood innocence has died (Score:2)

Disney needs their monopoly of childhood memories (Score:3, Informative)

I wouldn't get your hopes up (Score:2)

Re:The last vestige of chilhood innocence has died (Score:2)

Re:The last vestige of chilhood innocence has died (Score:2)

Re:The last vestige of chilhood innocence has died (Score:2)

Re:The last vestige of chilhood innocence has died (Score:2)

Re:The last vestige of chilhood innocence has died (Score:3, Funny)

Not even close... (Score:5, Insightful)

Re:Not even close... (Score:5, Insightful)

No longer living... (Score:3, Funny)

Re:Not even close... (Score:3, Funny)

Copyrights may be forever, but... (Score:2)

Re:Not even close... (Score:3, Funny)

Re:Not even close... (Score:2, Interesting)

Re:Not even close... (Score:1)

Re:Not even close... (Score:2)

Forced Muppet Labor (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Forced Muppet Labor (Score:2)

It's not very good... (Score:5, Interesting)

Re:It's not very good... (Score:3, Informative)

Re:It's not very good... (Score:2)

Re:It's not very good... (Score:2)

Don't shoot the messenger (Score:2)

Re:Don't shoot the messenger (Score:2)

Re:Don't shoot the messenger (Score:2)

Re:It's not very good... (Score:2)

Re:It's not very good... (Score:3, Interesting)

Re:It's not very good... (Score:2, Insightful)

Re:It's not very good... (Score:2)

Re:It's not very good... (Score:2)

Re:It's not very good... (Score:2)

Re:It's not very good... (Score:3, Interesting)

Re:It's not very good... (Score:2)

A clue to the funeral letter... (Score:2)

Re:It's not very good... (Score:3, Informative)

Re:It's not very good... (Score:2)

Yip, Yip...Book...Book (Score:2)

To quote the originals... (Score:3, Funny)

Sorry (Score:4, Funny)

Heard about it... (Score:2)

On the snooze-ometer... (Score:2, Funny)

That made me want to slam my head on my desk (Score:5, Insightful)

Re:That made me want to slam my head on my desk (Score:2)

WiMP?! (Score:3)

sorry disney... (Score:3, Interesting)

Saw the video... (Score:3, Funny)

Re:Saw the video... (Score:1)

what the (Score:1, Funny)

I knew this day would come... (Score:3, Funny)

Muppet Porn? (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Muppet Porn? (Score:2)

Re:Muppet Porn? (Score:2)

Re:Muppet Porn? (Score:2)

Re:Muppet Porn? (Score:2)

Re:Muppet Porn? (Score:2)

Re:Muppet Porn? (Score:2)

Ugh (Score:2)

Yeeesh! (Score:1)

Hey, I liked it. (Score:2)

When's the funny part start? (Score:5, Insightful)

Re:When's the funny part start? (Score:2)

I guess I'm the only one who liked it. (Score:5, Interesting)

Re:I guess I'm the only one who liked it. (Score:2, Funny)

Re:waves hand (Score:2, Funny)