The Problem Solverz is an American animated television series created by Ben Jones, a member of the art collective Paper Rad, for Cartoon Network. The series centers on the titular Problem Solverz trio of Alfe, Roba and Horace, as they solve and sometimes create the various problems that plague their town.
History[]
Series creator, Ben Jones, originally created the characters in The Problem Solverz when he was in primary school. Later on in life, he would join an art collective known as Paper Rad, which specialized in art with bright saturated neon colors. Ben would later create several shorts based on his concepts and released them in 2006 and 2008. Ben would later pitch his concept to Adult Swim, only for it to be rejected for being "too cute", and the show was retooled as a Cartoon Network series. In March 30, 2013, The unaired season two episodes were released on Netflix, and were later removed two years later.
Characters[]
- Alfe (voiced by Ben Jones) is a large, fluffy, half man, half dog, half anteater and a creature who was found and raised by a young Horace (in the beginning of Neon Knome). He loves to devour large quantities of pizza and acts impulsively during missions. In one episode, he claimed he lived in a cage as a child. Like a cat, he coughs up furballs whenever he chews his fur. People mistake his name as "Alfie".
- Roba (voiced by Ben Jones) – is the smartest member of them, being a half robot and a half human cyborg, who is incredibly insecure and anxious about everything. He is Horace's twin brother. People even mistake his name as "Rabbo".
- Horace (voiced by Kyle Kaplan) – is a calm, collected member and the leader of the team, usually using common sense with his actions and taking care after Alfe, his companion. He is Roba's twin brother. He is chivalrous to women, even falling in love with a few he's met on cases.
- Tux Dog (voiced by John DiMaggio) – is an extremely wealthy dog who helps the Problem Solverz in some of their cases, but is just as often then the source of their problems. He also insults Roba for his personality flaws and appearance.
- K-999 (voiced by Jaleel White) - is a robotic dog that can spray smoke out of his legs. He likes playing pranks with Alfe, much to Roba and Horace's annoyance.
Episodes[]
- Main article: The Problem Solverz/Episodes
Season | Episodes | ||
---|---|---|---|
Precursor Shorts | 2 | 2006 | 2007 |
Pilot | 2008 | ||
1 | 18 | April 4th, 2011 | September 29th, 2011 |
2 | 8 | March 30th, 2013 |
Precursor Shorts[]
Name: | Original Airdate: |
---|---|
Alfe: Cabin Gone Crazy | 2006 (segment of Paper Rad: Trash Talking) |
Problem Solvers | 2007 |
Pilot[]
Name: | Original airdate: |
---|---|
Neon Knome | 2008 |
Season 1[]
Number in
series: |
Number/segment in
season: |
Name: | Original airdate |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 1/1a | Time Twister | April 4th, 2011 |
2 | 2/1b | Video Gamez | |
3 | 3/2a | K-999 and Da Little Explorerz | |
4 | 4/2b | Awesome Banditz | |
5 | 5/3a | Funny Facez | |
6 | 6/3b | Hide and Seek Ninjaz | |
7 | 7/4a | The Mayan Ice Cream Caper | |
8 | 8/4b | Bad Cat | |
9 | 9/5a | Fauxboro | |
10 | 10/5b | Magic Clock | |
11 | 11/6a | Breakfast Wars | |
12 | 12/6b | Zoo Cops | |
13 | 13/7a | Hamburger Cavez | |
14 | 14/7b | Puffy Puppiez | |
15 | 15/8a | Glam-Vampire Hunterz | |
16 | 16/8b | Problem Solverz Academy | |
17 | 17/9a | Mermaid Rad | |
18 | 18/9b | Tux Dog's Island | September 29th, 2011 |
Season 2[]
This season was only on Netflix on March 30, 2013. They were completed by 2011 to 2012, and were going to air on Cartoon Network in 2012, but due to the negative reactions online, they were delayed.
Number in
series: |
Number in
season: |
Name: |
---|---|---|
19 | 1 | The Making of the Problem Solverz Video Game |
20 | 2 | Alfe is Da Boss |
21 | 3 | Roba Has Dreadlocks |
22 | 4 | Alfe Has a Baby |
23 | 5 | Zazz Boyz are Zazzing it Up |
24 | 6 | Yogurt Nightz |
25 | 7 | Super Close TV Watching |
26 | 8 | Alfe's Gonna Run Away |
Trivia[]
- The Problem Solverz is currently the second worst-rated Cartoon Network show on IMDB.com, with a score of around 2.0/10. This is only beaten by The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange with a 1.8.
- Though, there is a cult-following for the show that finds this hatred unjustified and solely based on its experimental art style.
- Alfe made a cameo in the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes episode "Crossover Nexus", as one of the CN heroes that were summoned and defeated by Strike.
- Regular Show characters Mordecai and Rigby make cameos in the episode "Hamburger Cavez".
- After the series was removed from Netflix, several of the episodes from the shows second season became lost media, though they have now all been found.
- Especially in Season 2, there is a recurring use of slime as ammo for weapons like guns and grenades. This is potentially a censorship work-around for showing their lethal real-world counterparts.
- It is implied in several episodes, intentional or not, that Roba was a female at some point. There's a running gag around Alfe saying he's "technically a girl" (like in "Alfe Has a Baby"), while Roba corrects that he's a man/robot.
Home Media[]
The series' first season is available to watch on iTunes and Amazon Prime (though separated into two Volumes, with Volume 2 containing the last 6 episodes of Season 1).
The series first and second seasons were made available on Netflix, but were removed in 2015.
Season 2 is now available for free via an unofficial YouTube compilation upload.
Gallery[]
2010 | Adventure Time • Ben 10: Ultimate Alien • Generator Rex • The Cartoonstitute • Regular Show • Tower Prep • Sym-Bionic Titan • Robotomy |
2011 | The Problem Solverz • Secret Mountain Fort Awesome |
2012 | Level Up • Ben 10: Omniverse |
2013 | Incredible Crew • Uncle Grandpa • Steven Universe |
2014 | Clarence • Black Dynamite • Over the Garden Wall |
2015 | We Bare Bears • Long Live the Royals |
2016 | The Powerpuff Girls • Mighty Magiswords |
2017 | Ben 10 • OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes |
2018 | Apple & Onion • Craig of the Creek • Summer Camp Island |
2019 | Victor and Valentino • Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart • Infinity Train • Primal • Steven Universe Future |
2020 | JJ Villard's Fairy Tales • Adventure Time: Distant Lands • Close Enough • Tig n' Seek • The Fungies! |
2022 | We Baby Bears |
2023 | Unicorn: Warriors Eternal • Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake • Jessica's Big Little World |
2024 | Invincible Fight Girl |
TBA | Battu • Gross Girls • Unnamed Ben 10 Series • |
1993 | The Moxy Show |
1994 | Space Ghost Coast to Coast |
1995 | What a Cartoon! |
1996 | Dexter's Laboratory • Big Bag |
1997 | Johnny Bravo • Cow and Chicken • I Am Weasel |
1998 | The Powerpuff Girls |
1999 | Ed, Edd n Eddy • Mike, Lu & Og • Courage the Cowardly Dog |
2010 | Adventure Time • Ben 10: Ultimate Alien • Generator Rex • Regular Show • Sym-Bionic Titan • Tower Prep • Robotomy |
2011 | The Problem Solverz • The Amazing World of Gumball • Secret Mountain Fort Awesome |
2012 | Level Up • The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange • Ben 10: Omniverse |
2013 | Incredible Crew • Uncle Grandpa • Steven Universe |
2014 | Clarence • Over the Garden Wall |
2015 | We Bare Bears • Long Live the Royals |
2016 | The Powerpuff Girls • Mighty Magiswords |
2017 | Ben 10 • OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes |
2018 | Apple & Onion • Craig of the Creek • Summer Camp Island |
2019 | Victor and Valentino • Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart • Infinity Train • Steven Universe Future |
2021 | Elliott from Earth • The Fungies! • Tig n' Seek |
2022 | We Baby Bears |
2023 | Jessica's Big Little World • The Heroic Quest of the Valiant Prince Ivandoe |
2024 | Invincible Fight Girl |
TBA | Battu • Gross Girls • The Amazing World of Gumball: The Series • Unnamed Ben 10 Series |