Problematic Men
Problematic Men (Korean: 문제적남자) was a South Korean television program that aired on tvN.
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| Problematic Men |
|---|
| Promotional poster |
| The Brainiacs |
| Talkshow Variety |
| See below |
| South Korea |
| Korean |
| 3 |
| 224 |
| South Korea |
| 75 minutes |
| tvN |
| tvN |
| February 26, 2015 (2015-02-26) –February 13, 2020 (2020-02-13) |
Problematic Men (Korean: 문제적남자) was a South Korean television program that aired on tvN.
The program went on hiatus after its broadcast on March 25, 2018. On May 9, 2018, it was announced that the program would be returning as Season 2 from May 29, and would air on every Tuesday at 23:00 (KST), with no change in the current cast lineup. Beginning January 7, 2019 the program aired on Mondays at 23:00 (KST).
The program was on another hiatus after its broadcast on June 10, 2019, as the program was to be replaced by More Salty Tour in its time slot, and it was slated to return in the second half of 2019. On October 28, 2019, tvN confirmed the program would return as Season 3 starting November 21, 2019, with original cast members Tyler Rasch and Park Kyung (Block B) not returning. Plus, model Joo Woo-jae and YouTuber/entrepreneur Ddotty would join the cast as new members.
The program had an indefinite hiatus as of February 13, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea, which made filming of the program difficult. No update about the show was announced, indicating that the series has ended.
A reboot of the program called Problematic Men Reboot: Math Edition starring Jun Hyun-moo, Chung Seung-je, John Park, Suho, Bae Sung-jae and Kim Gyu-min, aired on June 23 and 30, 2025.
It is a talk show variety program that focuses on various types of problems every week, sometimes with a theme. The cast invited for this program are 6 males, that have been labelled as "men with hot brains".
Traditionally, the cast is given clues to guess the identity of the episode's guest(s), and once the guest appears and are introduced, they and the cast are given a set of problems to solve. It is a tradition that all problems for the episode must be solved before the whole recording of the episode would end.
Season 3 features the theme of Brain Wanderers Squad/Travelling Brainiacs (브레인 유랑단), where the cast goes outdoors, unlike most of the previous 2 seasons when they were in the studio. The 6 cast members travel to various places around South Korea, varying from campuses to companies. For each place, the members would be split into 2 teams of 3 to look for people who they think are hidden brainiacs in the place and each team selects one to join, and the 2 teams go against each other in a battle of problem solving. The winning team can get off work on time, while the losing team has to stay in the campus to study after filming for the show is complete.
| Air date | Airtime |
|---|---|
| February 26 – July 16, 2015 | Thursdays at 11:00 PM KST |
| August 16, 2015 – March 25, 2018 | Sundays at 10:30 PM KST |
| May 29, 2018 – January 1, 2019 | Tuesdays at 11:00 PM KST |
| January 7 – June 10, 2019 | Mondays at 11:00 PM KST |
| November 21, 2019 – February 13, 2020 | Thursdays at 8:00 PM KST |
- Jun Hyun-moo (Ep 1–224)
- Kim Ji-seok (Ep 1–224; absent in episodes 174, 179–198)
- Lee Jang-won (Peppertones) (Ep 1–224; absent in episodes 135, 174)
- Tyler Rasch (Ep 1–211; absent in episodes 37–39, 56, 72, 145–148, 163–164, 174)
- Ha Seok-jin (Ep 1–224; absent in episode 174)
- RM (BTS) (Ep 1-21)
- Park Kyung (Block B) (Ep 25-211; absent in episodes 37–39, 77, 145, 149, 174, 205)
- Joo Woo-jae (Ep 212–224)
- Ddotty (Ep 212–224)
In the ratings below, for each year, the highest rating for the show will be in @media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output div:not(.notheme)>.tmp-color,html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output p>.tmp-color,html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output table:not(.notheme) .tmp-color{color:inherit!important}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output div:not(.notheme)>.tmp-color,html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output p>.tmp-color,html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output table:not(.notheme) .tmp-color{color:inherit!important}}red, and the lowest rating for the show will be in blue.
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Note: This program airs on a cable channel/pay TV which normally has a relatively smaller audience compared to free-to-air TV/public broadcasters.
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | tvN10 Awards | Best Content Award, Variety | Problematic Men | Won |
| Best MC | Jun Hyun-moo | Nominated | ||
| Two Star Award | Kim Ji-seok | Nominated |
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- Official website (in Korean)
- Problematic Men Reboot: Math Edition official website