# Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?
**Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?** is an American animated television series created by Greg Miller for Cartoon Network, about a robotic teenager who attends a suburban human middle school to study human behavior. It is the 12th series under the network's [Cartoon Cartoons](https://www.edgepedia.org/cartoon-cartoons) label and aired from July 19, 2002 to November 14, 2003 across two seasons.[1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6d39lE0Avc) • [2](https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/7219dffe-e0ab-4b31-b3e7-77acd35b52f5/downloads/20200890851.pdf) • [3](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/22279/whatever-happened-to-robot-jones)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Run | July 19, 2002 to November 14, 2003, on Cartoon Network; two seasons[1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6d39lE0Avc) |
| Pilot origin | Premiered June 16, 2000 on Cartoon Cartoon Fridays as an entrant in The Big Pick contest, in which it placed second behind The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (23% to 57%)[1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6d39lE0Avc) |
| Production | Created by Greg Miller, developed by Mike Stern and Miller; produced by Hanna-Barbera (pilot) and Cartoon Network Studios[2](https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/7219dffe-e0ab-4b31-b3e7-77acd35b52f5/downloads/20200890851.pdf) |
| Voice | Season 1 used a Microsoft Word 98 text-to-speech voice on Miller's Macintosh; season 2 used child actor Bobby Block, and season 1 was redubbed[4](https://cartoonnetwork.fandom.com/wiki/Whatever_Happened_to..._Robot_Jones%3F) |
| Format | Two seasons totaling 13 episodes and one pilot (27 segments), 22-minute installments in a retro 1980s setting[2](https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/7219dffe-e0ab-4b31-b3e7-77acd35b52f5/downloads/20200890851.pdf) • [5](https://afuzzymemory.blogspot.com/2020/11/whatever-happened-to-robot-jones.html) |
| Theme song | "Do the Robot", composed by The Invisible Cat[2](https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/7219dffe-e0ab-4b31-b3e7-77acd35b52f5/downloads/20200890851.pdf) |
## Premise and setting
The series is set in an alternate history in which robots have become a major part of society, with mechanical butlers and electronic plumbers as ordinary fixtures. Robot Jones, described as the world's most technologically advanced robot, is assigned to attend a human secondary school to understand humanity. Though programmed with basic emotions, he has trouble handling them and comes across as overly dramatic and socially awkward compared with human teenagers.[2](https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/7219dffe-e0ab-4b31-b3e7-77acd35b52f5/downloads/20200890851.pdf) • [6](https://a.osmarks.net/content/allthetropes_en_all_maxi_2020-06/A/Whatever_Happened_to..._Robot_Jones%3F) • [7](https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/whatever-happened-to-robot-jones/cast/1000367661/)
The stories are largely episodic, each focusing on a different aspect of middle school life, and the show places the robot's literal, data-driven perspective against a nostalgic, retro 1980s backdrop that blends humor, science fiction, and coming-of-age themes.[8](https://www.scifidimensions.com/what-is-the-plot-of-whatever-happened-to-robot-jones/) • [9](https://www.scifidimensions.com/is-whatever-happened-to-robot-jones-worth-watching/) Each first-season episode closed with Robot Jones analyzing what he had learned about humans and the lesson viewers could take away.[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/whatever_happened_to_robot_jones/s01) In the opening theme he is shown being assembled by humans in a factory, and in most episodes he is the only robot student at the school.[11](https://whatever-happened-to-robot-jones.fandom.com/wiki/Robot_Jones)
## The Big Pick and production
The pilot aired on June 16, 2000 during Cartoon Cartoon Fridays as one of ten animated shorts in The Big Pick, a viewer contest to choose [Cartoon Network](https://www.edgepedia.org/cartoon-network)'s next series. [The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-grim-adventures-of-billy-and-mandy) won with 57% of the vote; Robot Jones placed second with 23% and was nevertheless given a full series, which began on July 19, 2002.[1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6d39lE0Avc) According to one retrospective, the network had reportedly expected the series to fail quickly, which fans have linked to the title's phrasing, though this account is described as dubious history.[12](https://saturdaymorningarchives.blogspot.com/2023/09/getting-schooled-whatever-happened.html)
**Visual style.** The show was animated with traditional cels after most productions had moved to digital methods, giving it a rough, hand-made look that commentaries associate with Schoolhouse Rock and 1970s-era illustration; one reviewer compared the style to the work of illustrator Paul Coker Jr. Along with [Cow and Chicken](https://www.edgepedia.org/cow-and-chicken), I Am Weasel, and [Mike, Lu, and Og](https://www.edgepedia.org/mike-lu-and-og), it is one of the Cartoon Network shows made entirely with animation cels.[5](https://afuzzymemory.blogspot.com/2020/11/whatever-happened-to-robot-jones.html) • [4](https://cartoonnetwork.fandom.com/wiki/Whatever_Happened_to..._Robot_Jones%3F) • [13](https://mychillerlife.wordpress.com/2022/11/10/the-lookback-whatever-happened-to-robot-jones/) Greg Miller either wrote or co-wrote every episode, an arrangement one retrospective notes is uncommon.[5](https://afuzzymemory.blogspot.com/2020/11/whatever-happened-to-robot-jones.html)
## The voice change
For season one, Miller used [Microsoft Word](https://www.edgepedia.org/microsoft-word) 98's text-to-speech software on his old Macintosh computer to generate Robot's voice, giving the character a distinctly mechanical sound. After the first season was completed, Cartoon Network executives disliked the sound and asked Miller to find a more conventional voice; child actor Bobby Block took over the role for season two, and the first-season episodes and the pilot were redubbed with the new voice. Robot's text-to-speech voice was also recorded during production of second-season episodes, but because the change happened mid-production, that version was never used in the final prints.[4](https://cartoonnetwork.fandom.com/wiki/Whatever_Happened_to..._Robot_Jones%3F) • [14](https://whtrj.fandom.com/wiki/Robot_Jones) The two versions have become part of the show's legacy: some episodes circulate in two cuts, one with the text-to-speech voice and one with the human actor.[6](https://a.osmarks.net/content/allthetropes_en_all_maxi_2020-06/A/Whatever_Happened_to..._Robot_Jones%3F) • [4](https://cartoonnetwork.fandom.com/wiki/Whatever_Happened_to..._Robot_Jones%3F)
## Cast
Bobby Block voiced Robot Jones in the redubs and the second season; [Grey DeLisle](https://www.edgepedia.org/grey-delisle) voiced Mom Unit and Shannon Westerburg; Myles Jeffrey voiced Cubey Cubinacle; Kyle Sullivan voiced Socks Morton; and Gary LeRoi Gray voiced Mitch Freeman Davis.[15](https://lookupvod.com/en/tv/1789-whatever-happened-to-robot-jones) Greg Miller also voiced Dad and Grampz, and [Rip Taylor](https://www.edgepedia.org/rip-taylor) and [Maurice LaMarche](https://www.edgepedia.org/maurice-lamarche) voiced the character McMcMc.[3](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/22279/whatever-happened-to-robot-jones) In the ending credits, the cast section credits Robot Jones as played by himself.[14](https://whtrj.fandom.com/wiki/Robot_Jones)
## Cancellation and unfinished material
During the second season the show was burned off in a Friday 11 pm slot and was canceled after the season concluded on November 14, 2003.[1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6d39lE0Avc) Episodes still in production at cancellation were left unfinished, including one about the history of robotics, one in which Robot guest-starred on The Soapy Windfall Show, and a planned ending in which Robot rallies a robot army to eliminate the human population, an outcome the series treated as canonically having happened even though it was never shown.[2](https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/7219dffe-e0ab-4b31-b3e7-77acd35b52f5/downloads/20200890851.pdf)
## Aftermath
The series has remained unavailable on streaming services in the United States.[16](https://whichott.com/us/tv/whatever-happened-to-robot-jones-2002-1789) Cartoon Network UK acknowledged the series in a 2023 intro-evolution video marking the channel's 30th anniversary, and a fan-made REANIMATED collaboration remaking footage from the show appeared in 2025.[4](https://cartoonnetwork.fandom.com/wiki/Whatever_Happened_to..._Robot_Jones%3F) • [17](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-u4S4pOo8I)
## References
1. [Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones? - New Show Premiere Commercial, YouTube description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6d39lE0Avc)
2. [Whatever happened to robot jones (series infobox document)](https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/7219dffe-e0ab-4b31-b3e7-77acd35b52f5/downloads/20200890851.pdf)
3. [Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/22279/whatever-happened-to-robot-jones)
4. [Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?, The Cartoon Network Wiki (Fandom)](https://cartoonnetwork.fandom.com/wiki/Whatever_Happened_to..._Robot_Jones%3F)
5. [Whatever Happened To Robot Jones: An Exercise In Roboticism Via Autism In Young Women, A Fuzzy Memory (2020)](https://afuzzymemory.blogspot.com/2020/11/whatever-happened-to-robot-jones.html)
6. [Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?, All The Tropes mirror](https://a.osmarks.net/content/allthetropes_en_all_maxi_2020-06/A/Whatever_Happened_to..._Robot_Jones%3F)
7. [Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones? - Full Cast & Crew, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/whatever-happened-to-robot-jones/cast/1000367661/)
8. [What is the plot of "Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?", SciFi Dimensions](https://www.scifidimensions.com/what-is-the-plot-of-whatever-happened-to-robot-jones/)
9. [Is "Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?" Worth Watching?, SciFi Dimensions (2025)](https://www.scifidimensions.com/is-whatever-happened-to-robot-jones-worth-watching/)
10. [Whatever Happened to Robot Jones?: Season 1, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/whatever_happened_to_robot_jones/s01)
11. [Robot Jones, Whatever Happened To Robot Jones Wiki (Fandom)](https://whatever-happened-to-robot-jones.fandom.com/wiki/Robot_Jones)
12. [Getting Schooled: Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones (2002), Saturday Morning Archives (2023)](https://saturdaymorningarchives.blogspot.com/2023/09/getting-schooled-whatever-happened.html)
13. [The Lookback: Whatever Happened to Robot Jones?, mychiller Extra (2022)](https://mychillerlife.wordpress.com/2022/11/10/the-lookback-whatever-happened-to-robot-jones/)
14. [Robot Jones, Whatever Happned To Robot Jones? Wiki (Fandom)](https://whtrj.fandom.com/wiki/Robot_Jones)
15. [Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?, LookUpVOD](https://lookupvod.com/en/tv/1789-whatever-happened-to-robot-jones)
16. [Where to watch Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones? (2002), WhichOTT](https://whichott.com/us/tv/whatever-happened-to-robot-jones-2002-1789)
17. [Whatever Happened to Robot Jones REANIMATED Collab 2025, YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-u4S4pOo8I)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Animated television series (individual series) › Children's animated adventure and fantasy series › Comedy and slice-of-life series*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license