The Problem Solverz
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''The Problem Solverz'' is an American
animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...
television series that aired on
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
. Created by Ben Jones, it follows Alfe, Roba, and Horace; a group of detectives in their troubled town, Farboro. The aforementioned characters were designed while Jones attended college in the 1990s; he later founded the art collective
Paper Rad ''Paper Rad'' was an art collective from approx. 2000 until 2008, based on the East Coast in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Providence, Rhode Island. Known for creating comics, zines, video art, net art, MIDI files, paintings, installations, and mu ...
with Jessica and
Jacob Ciocci Jacob Ciocci (born 1977) is an American visual artist, performance artist, musician, and professor. Along with sister Jessica Ciocci and friend Ben Jones, he was one of the three founding members of Paper Rad, an artist collective active from 2000 ...
. The characters were featured in Jones' and the collective's animations and comics before the creator pitched a
pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...
to
Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as
dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...
and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...
featuring the trio. The network's executives referred Jones to Cartoon Network, who commissioned a series featuring the same characters. The series was produced in
Adobe Flash Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a multimedia Computing platform, software platform used for production of Flash animation, animations, rich web applications, application software, desktop applications, mobile apps, mo ...
, with around fifteen animators employed at
Cartoon Network Studios Cartoon Network Studios is an American animation studio owned by the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. The studio is the production arm of Cartoon Network, and started operating on ...
and the co-production of Mirari Films. ''The Problem Solverz'' was first aired on April 4, 2011. The first season consisted of eighteen episodes, concluding on September 29, 2011. A second and final season was released exclusively on
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
in 2013, which is now
lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...
after its removal in 2015. After leaving Cartoon Network, Ben Jones would then work at Fox Television Animation (now called
20th Television Animation 20th Television Animation (formerly Fox Television Animation) is an American animation studio that creates, develops and produces adult animated television series and specials. It is a unit of Disney Television Studios, a subsidiary of Walt Disne ...
) to work on the
Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...
Saturday Night block ''
Animation Domination High-Def Animation Domination High-Def (also called Animation Domination HD, Fox ADHD, and ADHD) was a late-night programming block broadcast by Fox. Originally premiering on July 21, 2013 as a spin-off of ''Animation Domination'', the block originally fo ...
'', where he serves as creative director for these shows, as well as creating his own show in ''
Stone Quackers ''Stone Quackers'' is an American adult animated television series created by Ben Jones. The series premiered October 27, 2014 on FXX as part of their Animation Domination High-Def block. Despite the Animation Domination High-Def block originall ...
'' for
FXX FXX is an American basic cable channel owned by the Walt Disney Television unit of The Walt Disney Company through FX Networks, LLC. It is the partner channel of FX, with its programming focusing on original and acquired comedy series and fe ...
, and would later work at
Bento Box Entertainment Bento Box Entertainment (also known as Bento Box Animation) is an American animation studio located in the North Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 2009 by executive producers Scott Greenberg, Joel Kuwahara, and M ...
, co-creating one of
Universal Animation Studios Universal Animation Studios (formerly known as Universal Cartoon Studios) is an American animation studio and a division of Universal Pictures, a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast. It has produced direct-to-video sequels to Un ...
' first adult animated shows ''
Saturday Morning All Star Hits! ''Saturday Morning All Star Hits!'' (''S.M.A.S.H.!'') is an American adult animated streaming television series that first aired on December 10, 2021. Directed by Dave McCary and Ben Jones, the show stars Kyle Mooney. Produced by Universal Tele ...
'' on Netflix.


Plot

The series follows the eponymous detectives Alfe ( Ben Jones), Roba (also Jones), and Horace (
Kyle Kaplan Kyle or Kyles may refer to: Places Canada * Kyle, Saskatchewan, Canada Ireland * Kyle, County Laois * Kyle, County Wexford Scotland * Kyle, Ayrshire, area of Scotland which stretched across parts of modern-day East Ayrshire and South Ayrshir ...
). The trio take up solving, and sometimes creating, the numerous problems that plague their town, Farboro. To their aid is Tux Dog (
John DiMaggio John William DiMaggio (; born September 4, 1968) is an American actor. His various voice roles include Bender on ''Futurama'', Jake the Dog on ''Adventure Time'', Marcus Fenix in the '' Gears of War'' series, Dr. Drakken on '' Kim Possible'', ...
), an extremely wealthy dog who helps the Solverz in some of their cases but is just as often the source of their problems. Alfe (pronounced ''Alfé'') is a large, fluffy, fur monster (even though it was suggested that he may be "half-chocolate, half-mutt" in ''Neon Knome'' or that he was a man-dog-anteater by creator and voice actor Ben Jones during the 2011 San Diego Comic Con Panel) found and raised by Horace when both were young. He loves devouring large quantities of food, especially pizza and hamburgers, and acts impulsively during missions. Roba, Horace's twin brother and cyborg, is the smartest member of the group, but he suffers from insecurity and anxiety. Horace is the calm and collected leader of the team, usually applying common sense with his detective work and caring after Alfe.


Development


Conception

Growing up in Pittsburgh, creator Ben Jones had an appreciation for comics and animation. His father's
Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...
computer served as a vehicle for Jones to create art and influenced his later visual style. Jones attended the
Massachusetts College of Art and Design Massachusetts College of Art and Design, branded as MassArt, is a public college of visual and applied art in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1873, it is one of the nation’s oldest art schools, the only publicly funded independent art school ...
in the mid-1990s, where he became motivated to launch a project he could adapt to different media. This impetus manifested itself in the characters Alfe, Horace, and Roba. Tux Dog, another principal character, was designed while Jones was in primary school. After his graduation, Jones formed the art collective
Paper Rad ''Paper Rad'' was an art collective from approx. 2000 until 2008, based on the East Coast in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Providence, Rhode Island. Known for creating comics, zines, video art, net art, MIDI files, paintings, installations, and mu ...
with Jessica and
Jacob Ciocci Jacob Ciocci (born 1977) is an American visual artist, performance artist, musician, and professor. Along with sister Jessica Ciocci and friend Ben Jones, he was one of the three founding members of Paper Rad, an artist collective active from 2000 ...
in 2000. The collective moved that year to Providence, Rhode Island, to participate in the
Fort Thunder Fort Thunder (1995–2001) was a warehouse on the second floor of a pre-Civil War former textile factory in the Olneyville district of Providence, Rhode Island. From 1995 through 2001, the space was used as a venue for underground music and events ...
music venue. After the venue's closure in 2001, Jones released animations on the Web using
Adobe Flash Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a multimedia Computing platform, software platform used for production of Flash animation, animations, rich web applications, application software, desktop applications, mobile apps, mo ...
, with some featuring Alfe. Paper Rad later produced animations with the premise of ''The Problem Solverz'' but with the three principal characters absent. The collective's 2006
direct-to-DVD Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...
release ''Trash Talking'' features a segment called "Gone Cabin " in which Alfe, Horace, and Roba appear. In tandem with these experiments, Jones worked as a television animator on ''
Yo Gabba Gabba! ''Yo Gabba Gabba!'' is a children's musical television series created by Christian Jacobs and Scott Schultz. The series is about five costumed toys come-to-life and their friend DJ Lance Rock ( Lance Robertson). It is co-produced by Magic Stor ...
'' and ''
Wonder Showzen ''Wonder Showzen'' is an American adult sketch comedy television series that aired between 2005 and 2006 on MTV2. It was created by Vernon Chatman and John Lee of PFFR. Described as a children's television series for adults, the show's format ...
''. The year of the DVD's release, Jones talked to
Nick Weidenfeld Nicholas Rabb Weidenfeld (born September 26, 1979) is an American television producer and executive who led program development for Cartoon Network's Adult Swim and Fox's Animation Domination High-Def programming blocks. He won producing Emmy Awa ...
, then an executive producer at
Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as
dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...
and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...
, about an idea for a series of his own. The result was ''Neon Knome'', a
pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...
produced by PFFR Productions and
Williams Street Williams Street Productions, LLC, d/b/a Williams Street and formerly known as Ghost Planet Industries, is an American animation and live action television production studio owned by the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., ...
in 2008, and released on Adult Swim's website two years later as part of a development contest sponsored by
Burger King Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based res ...
. After deciding the show's aesthetics were not a good fit for Adult Swim, who claimed it looked "too mind-blowingly cute" for their channel, the network's executives later referred Jones to
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
, believing his creativity would fit better there. Jones agreed to do business with Cartoon Network on the condition that Alfe be a character on ''The Problem Solverz''.


Production

Eric Pringle, a veteran of 2D digital animation, was employed as animation director, providing Jones with much technical assistance. Pringle's colleagues from ''
Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends ''Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends'' (also known as ''Foster's Home'', or simply ''Foster's'' for short) is an American animated television series created by Craig McCracken for Cartoon Network. It was produced by Cartoon Network Studios as ...
'', another
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
production, comprised a team of around fifteen full-time animators at the network's studio, all working on
Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
computers. Greg Miller was hired as supervising director, Martin Cendreda as technical director, and
John Pham John Pham is a cartoonist, animator, comic creator, and art director based in Los Angeles, California. Pham was born in Saigon but was raised in the United States. He received a self publishing grant from the Xeric Foundation in 2000 for "Epoxy. ...
with Jon Vermilyea as character designers. Miller is the creator of '' Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?'', another series on the network. Vermilyea worked also as a character designer on the network's series ''
Adventure Time ''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn (Jeremy Shada) and ...
'', while Cendreda, Pham, and Jones all contributed to the anthology comic book ''
Kramers Ergot ''Kramers Ergot'' is a series of anthology-style books of comic art edited by Sammy Harkham. Publication history ''Kramers Ergot'' started as a mini-comic self-published by Sammy Harkham under the imprint Avodah Books. Issues 4 and 5 were publishe ...
''. Michael Yank was employed as a writer for most episodes, with Mirari Films' CEO
Eric Kaplan Eric Kaplan is an American television writer and producer. His work has included shows such as ''Late Show with David Letterman'', ''Andy Richter Controls the Universe'', ''Malcolm in the Middle'', ''Futurama'', ''The Simpsons'' and ''Rick and M ...
supervising the creation of scripts. The series was noted for its visual style employing highly saturated colors and varying shapes. Jones was inspired by the limited-animated series ''
Roger Ramjet ''Roger Ramjet'' is a 1965–1969 American animated television series, starring Roger Ramjet and the American Eagle Squadron. The show was known for its simple animation, frenetic pace, and frequent references to pop culture which appealed to adu ...
'' and ''
The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show ''The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends'' (commonly referred to as simply ''Rocky and Bullwinkle'') is an American animated television series that originally aired from November 19, 1959, to June 27, 1964, on the American Broadca ...
'', which he felt employed good character design, cohesiveness, jokes, and timing. He credited ''The Problem Solverz'' as the first seamless use of
Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Barry Allen) ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Wally West, the first Kid ...
for television animation, with conceptualization and the end result occurring in the same program. Writing was the longest aspect of production, taking up to several months for the crew to conceive the story and draft a script. Animation was comparatively quicker, with the team delivering work in only a few weeks given the digital approach; Jones felt that the animators could play to the strengths of the fully digital animation process. The show's criticism led to only 26 episodes being produced. 18 of which were produced during the first season in 2011. Towards the end of 2011, eight episodes were produced for the second and final season, and was supposed to air by the end of 2011 or any time in 2012, but due to the show's low ratings, they were only released through Netflix on March 30, 2013.


Voice cast


Main

* Ben Jones – Alfe, Roba *
Kyle Kaplan Kyle or Kyles may refer to: Places Canada * Kyle, Saskatchewan, Canada Ireland * Kyle, County Laois * Kyle, County Wexford Scotland * Kyle, Ayrshire, area of Scotland which stretched across parts of modern-day East Ayrshire and South Ayrshir ...
 - Horace *
John DiMaggio John William DiMaggio (; born September 4, 1968) is an American actor. His various voice roles include Bender on ''Futurama'', Jake the Dog on ''Adventure Time'', Marcus Fenix in the '' Gears of War'' series, Dr. Drakken on '' Kim Possible'', ...
 – Tux Dog


Recurring

*
Pamela Adlon Pamela Fionna Adlon (; ; born July 9, 1966) is an American actress. She is known for voicing Bobby Hill in the animated comedy series ''King of the Hill'' (1997–2010), for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award. She also voiced Baloo in ''Jungl ...
 – Mr. Creame, Sweetie Creame, Danny, Danny's Mom *
James Avery James La Rue Avery (November 27, 1945 – December 31, 2013) was an American actor. He was best known for his roles as Philip Banks in ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'', Shredder in ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'', Judge Michael Conover on ''L. ...
 – Go-Seeki Ninja Master, Ninja Master's Dad Head *
Eric Bauza Eric Bauza (born December 7, 1979) is a Canadian-American voice actor and comedian. His most-known roles include Stimpy on '' Ren and Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon"'', Foop on ''The Fairly OddParents'' and its reboot ''Fairly Odder'', Thunderbolt Ro ...
 – Dork Face, Ale, Alfred *
Matt Berry Matthew Charles Berry (born 2 May 1974) is an English actor, comedian, musician, and writer. He is best known for his roles in comedy series such as '' The IT Crowd'', ''Garth Marenghi's Darkplace'', ''The Mighty Boosh'', ''Snuff Box'', ''What ...
 – Drill Sergeant *
Wayne Brady Wayne Alphonso Brady (born June 2, 1972) is an American television personality, comedian, actor, and singer. He is a regular on the American version of the improvisational comedy television series ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' He was the host of ...
 – Uncle Chocofus *
Tia Carrere Althea Rae Duhinio Janairo (born January 2, 1967), known professionally as Tia Carrere (), is an American actress, singer and former model who got her first big break as a regular on the daytime soap opera '' General Hospital''. Carrere played C ...
 – Tara *
Andrew Daly Andrew J. Daly (born April 15, 1971) is an American actor, comedian and writer. He starred as Forrest MacNeil on the Comedy Central series ''Review'', and had a supporting role in the HBO comedy series '' Eastbound & Down'' as Terrence Cutler. H ...
 – Miss May *
Grey DeLisle Grey DeLisle (; born Erin Grey Van Oosbree; August 24, 1973), sometimes credited as Grey Griffin, is an American voice actress, comedian and singer-songwriter. DeLisle is known for various roles in animated productions and video games. On Sept ...
 – Candace, Luka *
John DiMaggio John William DiMaggio (; born September 4, 1968) is an American actor. His various voice roles include Bender on ''Futurama'', Jake the Dog on ''Adventure Time'', Marcus Fenix in the '' Gears of War'' series, Dr. Drakken on '' Kim Possible'', ...
 – Narrator (S01 only), Teacher, The Mewmeoh, Badcat (in "Puffy Puppiez"), Jerry, Gary *
Michael Dorn Michael Dorn (born December 9, 1952) is an American actor best known for his role as the Klingon Worf in the '' Star Trek'' franchise. He has appeared more times as a regular cast member than any other ''Star Trek'' actor in the franchise's histo ...
 – Yamir *
Rich Fulcher Richard Fulcher (born November 18, 1968) is an American comedian, actor and author. He played Bob Fossil and other characters in the British comedy series ''The Mighty Boosh'', and Edward Sheath in the American series '' Jon Benjamin Has a Van''. ...
 – Lidget *
Nika Futterman Nika Futterman (born October 25, 1969) is an American voice and television actress. She is known for her voices in various animated series, including Asajj Ventress in '' Star Wars: The Clone Wars'' and Adam Lyon in ''My Gym Partner's a Mo ...
 – Stratch *
Mark Hamill Mark Richard Hamill (; born September 25, 1951) is an American actor and writer. He is known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the ''Star Wars'' film series, beginning with the original 1977 film and subsequently winning three Saturn Awards f ...
 – Buddy Huxton, Badcat (in "Badcat") *
Amy Hill Amy Marie Hill (born May 9, 1953) is an American actress and stand-up comedian. Hill's first major role was as Yung-Hee "Grandma" Kim on '' All-American Girl'' where her character became the breakout character of the short-lived television serie ...
 – Mrs. Konishi * Ben Jones – Balloon Professor, Professor Sugarfish, Rusty Pedals *
Tom Kenny Thomas James Kenny (born July 13, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for voicing the titular character in ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and associated media. Kenny has voiced many other characters, including Heffer Wolfe in ''R ...
 – Bionic Zombies, The Android-geist *
Liz Lee Liz is a female name of Hebrew origin, meaning "God's Promise". It is also a short form of Elizabeth, Elisabeth, Lisbeth, Lizanne, Liszbeth, Lizbeth, Lizabeth, Lyzbeth, Lisa, Lizette, Alyssa, and Eliza. People * Liz Balmaseda (born 1959), Puli ...
 – Additionals (S02E27 only) *
Vanessa Marshall Vanessa Marshall (born October 19, 1969 in Los Angeles, California, U.S.) is an American voice and television actress who is most active in films, cartoons and video games. She is the daughter of actress Joan Van Ark and reporter John Marshall. ...
 – Emily, Yogi, Trudy H. *
Daran Norris Daran Morrison Nordland (born ), known professionally as Daran Norris, is an American actor. He has appeared or voiced characters in more than 400 films, video games, and television programs, including: Gordy in ''Ned's Declassified School Surviv ...
 – J.B. McTooth *
Chris Parnell Thomas Christopher Parnell (; born February 5, 1967) is an American actor and comedian. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1998 to 2006 and played the role of Dr. Leo Spaceman on ''30 Rock''. In animation, he voices Cyril Figgis ...
 – The Mayor, Eternitron *
Bronson Pinchot Bronson Alcott Pinchot (; born May 20, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Balki Bartokomous on the ABC sitcom '' Perfect Strangers'' (1986–93). He also performed in films, such as ''Risky Business'' (1983), ''Beverly Hill ...
 – AI (Master Artificial Intelligence) *
Kevin Michael Richardson Kevin Michael Richardson (born October 25, 1964) is an American actor. Known for his distinctively deep voice, he has mostly voiced villainous characters in animation and video games. In film, Richardson voiced Goro in ''Mortal Kombat'' (1995) ...
 – Wendigo *
Horatio Sanz Horacio Sanz (born June 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Horatio Sanz, is a Chilean-born American actor and comedian. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1998 to 2006. Early life Sanz was born on June 4, 1969 in Santi ...
 – Ralphe *
Paul Scheer Paul Christian Scheer (born January 31, 1976) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, director, and podcaster. Scheer is a SAG award-winning actor known for his roles in Showtime's comedy series ''Black Monday'' and FX/ FXX's ''The L ...
 – Tony Marv, Fungsten *
Alia Shawkat Alia Martine Shawkat ( ; ar, عليا مارتين شوكت; born April 18, 1989) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in '' The Old Man'', '' State of Grace'', Maeby Fünke in the Fox/Netflix television sitcom ''Arrested Develop ...
 – Laura *
Kath Soucie Kath or KATH may refer to: * Kath (city), the historical capital of Khwarezm * Kath (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * KATH-TV, the NBC TV station in Juneau, Alaska * KATH (AM) KATH (910 kHz) is an ...
 – Spiralina *
George Takei George Takei (; ja, ジョージ・タケイ; born Hosato Takei (武井 穂郷), April 20, 1937) is an American actor, author and activist known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the fictional starship USS ''Enterprise'' in the televi ...
 – Howard Konishi *
Jill Talley Jill Talley (born December 19, 1962) is an American actress and comedian. She is a main cast member on the animated series ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', in which she voices Karen Plankton. Her other voice roles include Sarah Dubois on Adult Swim's ...
 – Nina, Alpha Alien, Dolls' Kid Owner *
Brian Tee , known professionally as Brian Tee, is a Japanese film and television actor. He is known for playing Dr. Ethan Choi on the NBC medical drama ''Chicago Med'' and its spin-offs, and has starred in such films as '' The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo D ...
 – Captain, Granite, Mini Master *
Kari Wahlgren Kari Wahlgren (born July 13, 1977) is an American actress who has provided English-language voices for animated movies, TV series, and video games. She got her start in anime voice-overs as Haruko Haruhara in '' FLCL'', and would later land ma ...
 – Katrina Rad * Jason Walden – Tommy, JZ, Glam Metal Vampirez *
Jaleel White Jaleel Ahmad White (born November 27, 1976) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Steve Urkel on the sitcom ''Family Matters''. The character was originally intended to be a one-time guest appearance on the show; however, he wa ...
 – K-999


Episodes


Series overview


Shorts

The main ''Problem Solverz'' characters first appeared in an animated short entitled, "Alfe: Gone Cabin Carzy". The short was created and produced by the art collective
Paper Rad ''Paper Rad'' was an art collective from approx. 2000 until 2008, based on the East Coast in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Providence, Rhode Island. Known for creating comics, zines, video art, net art, MIDI files, paintings, installations, and mu ...
, and was written by Ben Jones. This short was included on their
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
''Trash Talking'', published by
Load Records Load Records was an American experimental music-oriented independent record label based out of Providence, Rhode Island. "Load Records might possibly be in possession of the world's most challenging record roster," writes Mark Hensch of Thrash Pi ...
in 2006. The second Paper Rad animated short, "Problem Solvers", was released on a stand-alone DVD in 2008 as a bonus for the seventh volume of ''The Ganzfeld'', a periodical book series written by Dan Nadel. Although it does not include the main ''Problem Solverz'' characters, it introduces the
problem solving Problem solving is the process of achieving a goal by overcoming obstacles, a frequent part of most activities. Problems in need of solutions range from simple personal tasks (e.g. how to turn on an appliance) to complex issues in business an ...
concept which Jones would use as the basis of his homonymous
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
series.


Pilot

The pilot episode "Neon Knome" was produced in 2008 by PFFFR and
Williams Street Williams Street Productions, LLC, d/b/a Williams Street and formerly known as Ghost Planet Industries, is an American animation and live action television production studio owned by the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., ...
for
Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as
dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...
and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...
, and then released in 2010 on their
official website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Wikipe ...
as part of the "Big, Über, Network, Sampling" programming block.


Season 1 (2011)


Season 2 (2013)

Eight episodes were produced for Season 2 and were originally supposed to air from 2011 to 2012, but were released through
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
on March 30, 2013 due to the shows negative critical reception. It never aired on television. This season is now declared
lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...
after Netflix removed the show from the service in 2015 and it’s not available on any digital streaming.


Release

''The Problem Solverz'' was first aired on April 4, 2011, on
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
. The premiere was seen by 1.1 million viewers, receiving a
Nielsen rating Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...
of 0.8, in that 0.8 percent of families with a television set viewed the episode on that date. The most-watched episode of the series ("The Mayan Ice Cream Caper") was seen by 1.6 million viewers. Viewership fell with the first episode to have been aired on a Thursday ("Hamburger Cavez"), which was watched by 1.1 million viewers. The first season concluded on September 29, 2011, after eighteen episodes. A second season consisting of eight episodes was released exclusively on
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
on March 30, 2013.


Reception

Criticism of ''The Problem Solverz'' was directed at the visual style and writing. Rob Owen writing for the ''
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...
'' called the style reminiscent of
Atari 5200 The Atari 5200 SuperSystem or simply Atari 5200 is a home video game console introduced in 1982 by Atari, Inc. as a higher-end complement for the popular Atari Video Computer System. The VCS was renamed to the Atari 2600 at the time of the 5200' ...
video games and wrote that viewers could "thank" or "blame" Jones for his creation. For the magazine ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'', Brian Lowry disregarded the series as uninteresting and challenging to watch, the visuals and sounds weird for weirdness' sake. Emily Ashby of
Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.
defined the series as misguided, its stories as undeveloped, and its visual style as unappealing. The ''
Weekly Alibi ''Weekly Alibi'', commonly referred to as ''The Alibi'', was a free weekly news, arts, culture, and entertainment newspaper and website in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The main features were the website's award-winning news section, featuring cultura ...
''s Devin D. O'Leary acknowledged the style as
Paper Rad ''Paper Rad'' was an art collective from approx. 2000 until 2008, based on the East Coast in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Providence, Rhode Island. Known for creating comics, zines, video art, net art, MIDI files, paintings, installations, and mu ...
's own and found the writing more solid than that of
Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as
dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...
and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...
's programming for which it could be mistaken. The jokes were not instantly funny according to O'Leary, but the visual style combined with the writing would provide amusement for Paper Rad's existing fans. Art-related publications, on the other hand, gave praise to Jones' creativity. Dan Nadel, a former publisher of Jones, lauded the series in ''
The Comics Journal ''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing re ...
'' for the imagination displayed, "funny and humane and invaluable" at the same time. ''
Paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distributed ...
'' writer Sammy Harkham called ''The Problem Solverz'' "radical" and unlike any other series on television. '' Geek Exchange'' writer Liz Ohanesian called the second season more "subdued" than the first, allowing viewers to concentrate on the principal character's relationships. She compared the series to the band
Anamanaguchi Anamanaguchi is an American chiptune-based pop and rock band from New York City. The band has four members: lead songwriters and guitarists Peter Berkman and Ary Warnaar, bassist James DeVito, and drummer Luke Silas. Anamanaguchi combines dig ...
, in that its unique and polarizing style makes fans of the series hard to find.


See also

* ''
Stone Quackers ''Stone Quackers'' is an American adult animated television series created by Ben Jones. The series premiered October 27, 2014 on FXX as part of their Animation Domination High-Def block. Despite the Animation Domination High-Def block originall ...
'' – another animated series created by Jones following his work on ''The Problem Solverz''


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Problem Solverz, The 2010s American animated television series 2011 American television series debuts 2013 American television series endings American children's animated comedy television series American children's animated mystery television series American flash animated television series Cartoon Network original programming Television series by Cartoon Network Studios English-language Netflix original programming Paper Rad Television series created by Ben Jones