The Problem Solverz

Did You Know?

• The pilot "Neon Knome" was released on Adult Swim's website in 2010 as part of a development contest sponsored by Burger King.
• The most-watched episode of the series ("The Mayan Ice Cream Caper") was seen by 1.6 million viewers.
• The series was once considered to be one of the worst animated series ever made.

Plot

The show centers on three detectives named Alfe, Roba, and Horace, who both solve and occasionally cause the many issues in their town of Farboro. They are sometimes helped by Tux Dog, a very rich dog who also frequently creates their problems. Alfe is a big, fluffy fur monster that Horace raised from a young age. Roba, Horace’s twin and a cyborg, is the group’s brain but struggles with insecurity and anxiety. Horace, the calm leader, relies on common sense and looks after Alfe.

Development

Ben Jones, who grew up in Pittsburgh, developed a love for comics and animation early on. His father's Macintosh computer became a key tool for his art and shaped his eventual visual style. While studying at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in the mid-1990s, Jones felt driven to create a project that could work across different formats, which led to the characters Alfe, Horace, and Roba. Another main character, Tux Dog, had been sketched out when Jones was still in elementary school. After finishing school in 2000, he co-founded the art collective Paper Rad with Jessica and Jacob Ciocci. That same year, the group moved to Providence, Rhode Island, to be part of the Fort Thunder music scene. When Fort Thunder closed in 2001, Jones began posting Flash animations online, some starring Alfe. Later, Paper Rad made animations with the same concept as The Problem Solverz but without the three lead characters. Their 2006 DVD Trash Talking includes the short "Gone Cabin Carzy," which does feature Alfe, Horace, and Roba. During this time, Jones also worked as a TV animator on Yo Gabba Gabba! and Wonder Showzen. In 2006, he pitched an idea to Adult Swim executive Nick Weidenfeld, which became the pilot Neon Knome, produced by PFFR Productions and Williams Street in 2007.

Reception

Critics largely panned the show, calling it dull, boring, and uninteresting, with even harsher reactions from general audiences. The visual style and writing drew the most fire. Rob Owen of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette compared the look to Atari 5200 games, while Brian Lowry of Variety found the series unwatchable and its weirdness pointless. Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media labeled it misguided, with underdeveloped stories and an unappealing look. Devin D. O'Leary of The Weekly Alibi acknowledged the style as authentic to Paper Rad and thought the writing was stronger than typical Adult Swim fare, though the jokes weren't immediately funny. Many critics believed the show would have been better suited for Adult Swim. Art-focused outlets, however, celebrated Ben Jones's creativity. Dan Nadel in The Comics Journal praised its imagination as funny, humane, and invaluable. Sammy Harkham called it radical and unlike anything else on TV. Liz Ohanesian of Geek Exchange noted the second season was more subdued, letting viewers focus on character relationships, and compared the series to the band Anamanaguchi in that its polarizing style makes dedicated fans rare.