Problematic Men () 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.
Program 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 (), 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.
Airtime Air dateAirtime Season 1 February 26 – July 16, 2015 Thursdays at 11:00 PM KST August 16, 2015 – March 25, 2018 Sundays at 10:30 PM KST Season 2 May 29, 2018 – January 1, 2019 Tuesdays at 11:00 PM KST January 7 – June 10, 2019 Mondays at 11:00 PM KST Season 3 November 21, 2019 – February 13, 2020 Thursdays at 8:00 PM KST
Cast 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)
Episodes In the ratings below, for each year, the highest rating for the show will be in , and the lowest rating for the show will be in .
2015
Episode #Broadcast DateGuestRatings (AGB Nielsen Korea) 1 February 26, 2015 - 2.374% 2 March 5, 2015 - 1.834% 3 March 12, 2015 Lee Won-suk 1.633% 4 March 19, 2015 - 1.425% 5 March 26, 2015 - 1.838% 6 April 2, 2015 - 1.745% 7 April 9, 2015 - 1.978% 8 April 16, 2015 - 1.750% 9 April 23, 2015 Jackson (GOT7) 1.663% 10 April 30, 2015Suho (EXO) 1.733% 11 May 7, 2015 1.492% 12 May 14, 2015 Kim Ban-seok (elder brother of Kim Ji-seok, graduate of University of Oxford) 2.023% 13 May 21, 2015 Kim Young-chul 1.729% 14 May 28, 2015 Han Seung-yeon (KARA) 1.465% 15 June 4, 2015 - 1.426% 16 June 11, 2015 Lee Ki-woo 1.437% 17 June 18, 2015 Ha Sang-wook (Author) 1.496% 18 June 25, 2015 Shin Jae Pyung 1.908% 19 July 2, 2015 Pyo Chang-won 1.888% 20 July 9, 2015 - 2.027% 21 July 16, 2015 Yang Se-hyungLee Jin-ho 1.790% 22 August 16, 2015Shin Jae Pyung 1.568% 23 August 23, 2015 Kim Chong-woon (Principal of a creative development institute, starter of Korea's pictorial brain warm-ups)Lee Chi-sung (Well known comic strips author, under the pseudonym CHO)Shin Jae Pyung 1.872% 24 August 30, 2015 Song Ki-moon (CTO of a game company)Shin Jae Pyung 1.783% 25 September 6, 2015 - 2.311% 26 September 13, 2015 - 1.902% 27 September 20, 2015 Dennis Hong 1.951% 28 September 27, 2015 - 1.632% 29 October 4, 2015 Lee Eun-gyeol 1.796% 30 October 11, 2015 Jang Dong-min, Hong Jin-ho 2.217% 31 October 18, 2015 Kim Hyung-kyu (Dentist, broadcaster) 2.163% 32 October 25, 2015 Yoonhan 1.846% 33 November 1, 2015 Yoon So-hee 2.508% 34 November 8, 2015 Jang Jin 2.119% 35 November 15, 2015 Sung Jin-hwan, In Ho-jin (Sweet Sorrow) 2.349% 36 November 22, 2015 Hwang Jae Keun (designer) 2.045% 37 November 29, 2015Shin Jae Pyung, Key (SHINee) 2.157% 38 December 6, 2015 1.696% 39 December 13, 2015 1.547% 40 December 20, 2015 Ji Joo-yeon (Actress, achieved Bachelor in Media Informatics at from Seoul National University) 2.892% 41 December 27, 2015 Lee Jun-seok 2.522%
2016
Episode #Broadcast DateGuestRatings (AGB Nielsen Korea) 42 January 3, 2016 Go Joo-won 2.808% 43 January 10, 2016 Yoo Jae-hwan (Music producer) 2.463% 44 January 17, 2016 Lee Seung-won (Violist) 2.863% 45 January 24, 2016 Oh Sang-jin 3.236% 46 January 31, 2016 Choi Chang-yub (actor) 2.720% 47 February 7, 2016Kim Sook, Kim Young-hee, Kim Min-kyung, Lee Se-young 2.309% 48 February 14, 2016 2.934% 49 February 21, 2016 Kim Young-woo, Song Woo-jin (Sweet Sorrow) 2.704% 50 February 28, 2016 Special appearance by Laboum 2.431% 51 March 6, 2016 Yoo Jae-Myung 1.913% 52 March 13, 2016Lee Tae-min (SHINee) 1.646% 53 March 20, 2016Chloë Grace Moretz 2.488% 54 March 27, 2016Kyuhyun (Super Junior) 2.047% 55 April 3, 2016Sam Hammington, Sam Okyere 2.308% 56 April 10, 2016Nop.K (musician) 1.574% 57 April 17, 2016Lee Won-suk (Daybreak) 1.739% 58 April 24, 2016Block B 2.424% 59 May 1, 2016 1.400% 60 May 8, 2016eAeon (Mot) 1.748% 61 May 15, 2016Sa Hye-won (sophomore student at the University of Oxford) 2.782% 62 May 22, 2016Cho Tae-kwan (actor) 2.095% 63 May 29, 2016Park So-jin (Girl's Day) 2.212% 64 June 5, 2016Dr. Simpson (rapper) 2.274% 65 June 12, 2016 Yang Se-chan, Lee Yong-jin 2.440% 66 June 19, 2016 Joo Woo-jae (model) 2.575% 67 June 26, 2016 Tony An 2.733% 68 July 3, 2016JaePyung Shin (Peppertones), Song Ki-mun, Joo Woo-jae,Sung Jin-hwan (Sweet Sorrow), Jang Dong-min, Special appearance by Lovelyz on episode 69 1.872% 69 July 10, 2016 2.175% 70 July 17, 2016 Kwon Sun-il (Urban Zakapa) 2.849% 71 July 24, 2016 Kim Nam-hee (sports announcer, 2014 Miss Korea contestant, Mensa International member) 2.204% 72 July 31, 2016 Roy Kim, Joo Woo Jae 3.097% 73 August 7, 2016Ko Na-young, Seo Yu-ri (student), Jung Min-gun 2.591%74August 14, 20161.943%Dominic O'Brien, Joo Woo-jae (standing in for Park Kyung) 75 August 21, 2016 1.733% 76 August 28, 2016 John Park 2.450% 77 September 4, 2016 Wendy (Red Velvet), Joo Woo-jae (standing in for Park Kyung) 2.236% 78 September 11, 2016 Jun. K (2PM) 1.734% 79 September 18, 2016 Lee Soo-geun 2.118% 80 September 25, 2016 Choi Jung-moon 2.684% 81 October 2, 2016 Kim Ji-woon (chef, graduate of Eton College) 2.819% 82 October 16, 2016 Choi Min-ho (Shinee) 1.969% 83 October 23, 2016 Yoon Duk-won (Broccoli You Too) 2.250% 84 October 30, 2016 Jung Ha-eun, Jung Ji-woong (children of Jung Eun-pyo) 2.710% 85 November 6, 2016 Goo Sae-bom (announcer), Goo Se-kyung (sisters) 1.897% 86 November 13, 2016 Cha Eun-woo (ASTRO) 1.878% 87 November 20, 2016 Lee Jong-beom (webcomic artist) 1.777% 88 November 27, 2016 J-Min 2.103% 89 December 4, 2016 Yellow Bench (music duo) 2.696% 90 December 11, 2016 Park Sae-him (elder sister of Block B Park Kyung) 2.447% 91 December 18, 2016 myunDo (rapper) 1.940% 92 December 25, 2016 Park Na-rae, Kim Ji-min, Ahn Young-mi, Kang Yoo-mi, Oh Nami, Heo Anna 2.406%
2017