Where did the saying "no comment from the peanut gallery" come from?

Question

Like the sayings:

"no comment from the peanut gallery"

why peanut gallery?

is it from a movie or something?

Answer 1

It began as a comics defense against hecklers.  Check out this link for more info.  http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpea...

Answer 2

Reference to the Peanut Gallery is relating to the "cheap" seats in a theater where the cheapest snack "Peanuts" were most prevalent.  

The Peanut Gallery was also a reference to "The Howdy Doody Show".  Howdy Doody and Buffalo Bob would share their show with the pint size kids in the audience (Peanut Gallery).  Howdy Doody was one of the first kid's shows on NBC starting 60 years ago this year!

Answer 3

The '"no comment" shtick is relatively recent, coming from standup comics' attempts to put down hecklers. The "peanut gallery" has been used for some time to imply "the cheap seats." Today, balcony and mezzanine seats often go for more than main floor seats at the rear of the auditorium, because of their superior view. However, before microphones and opera glasses were common, balcony seats were the worst in the theater. The audiences in the cheap seats, typically lower class than the orchestra section, were the rowdiest in the theater, and in late 19th century vaudeville, disapproving audiences did more than just heckle the performers. In addition to the clearest view of the stage, patrons in the upper levels also had the clearest shot, and a bad performer would often find himself showered from the upper deck with the most common theater snack of the time, peanuts sold by the concessionaires. Players soon learned to play to the peanut gallery at the top of the theater, lest they learn firsthand where the name came from. Later on, the name was popularized by Buffalo Bob Smith, who chose to call his Howdy Doody audience the Peanut Gallery, presumably to emphasize the audience's cuteness, rather than their propensity to throw stuff at him. When I go to comedy clubs nowadays, I prefer to sit in the Guacamole Gallery. Standup comics, be warned