The original name of the series was Kuťáci (The Tinkers). However, when production of episodes started for ČST Bratislava, a Slovak name was required, and the crew eventually settled for ... a je to! (... and it's done!).[2] The characters themselves were nameless until 1989, when they were given the names Pat and Mat. Pat and Mat are shortened forms of Czech expressions Patlal and Matlal, which can roughly be translated as Clumsy and Awkward.[3] The authors intentionally gave the characters short and universal names suitable for a worldwide audience.[2]

The two characters first appeared in a 1976 short film entitled Kuťáci (Tinkers) produced by Krátký film Prague (cs)'s Jiří Trnka Studio and distributed by Ústřední půjčovna filmů (cs). While creating the two characters, the authors had in mind entertainment for adults, and the short was shown before movies. Although they intended to produce more shorts for theatrical release, their parent studio refused. The series was picked up by ČST Bratislava's children's section, where it was named ... a je to! (... and that's it!). The two handymen got their names Pat and Mat in 1989, when production was resumed for Krátký film Prague. Their names then also became the name of the show.

As a result of its lack of dialogue, the show was syndicated around the world, being broadcast in more than 80 countries by the 1990s,[4] which included Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic and Slovakia), Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia), Sweden, Syria, Iraq, Poland, Iceland, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Austria, Switzerland, Brazil, Romania, Finland, Japan, Norway, Spain, France, Iran, Hungary, Jordan, South Africa, and South Korea. In the Netherlands, the characters are given dubbed dialogue, and are voiced by Kees Prins and Siem van Leeuwen. In Australia the show aired as part of a weekly, half-hour collection of animated shorts on the SBS show Kaleidoscope.

In 1990, after the collapse of the communist regime, Beneš and Jiránek founded their own aiF Studio in Prague (production) and Zürich (marketing, sales, financing), where they produced 14 more episodes, and released all 49 of them to the international market.

In 1999, four years after Beneš's death, his studio went into bankruptcy, leading to a copyright dispute over the characters and the 50th episode, which was therefore never released. Beneš's son Marek founded his own studio, Patmat, in 2001. Production of episodes was resumed in 2002 by Ateliéry Bonton Zlín, resulting in 28 episodes being produced by three studios (Ateliéry Bonton, Anima and Patmat) in just three years. Many crew members were veterans who had worked on the original TV series.

The characters were revived once again in 2009 by Beneš for a new series, Pat a Mat na venkově (Pat & Mat in the Country). The pilot, Postele (Beds), premiered at the 50th Zlín Film Festival in 2010.[5] 12 more episodes followed between 2011 and 2015, produced by Patmat Film and filmed in 16:9. Beneš directed and wrote all 13 episodes. Eight of the episodes were released on DVD in 2013 and received their TV premiere on the Dutch channel VPRO on 9 June 2013, with the rest following soon.