The Big Pick

The Big Pick was a 53 hour marathon of original programming that ran during a Cartoon Cartoon Weekend marathon during the summer of 2000 and 2001. Cartoon Network allowed the viewers to vote on which of the summer's ten series pilots will become a half-hour Cartoon Cartoon for Fall 2001 and Fall 2002. The winner of the first Big Pick in 2000 was Grim and Evil and the winner of the second Big Pick in 2001 was Codename: Kids Next Door. The Big Pick was cancelled in 2002.

1st Big Pick
The pilots shown during the First Big Pick (August 25-27, 2000) were:
 * June 9th - The Grim Adventures of Billy &amp; Mandy: "Meet the Reaper", created by Maxwell Atoms
 * June 16th - Whatever Happened to Robot Jones?, created by Greg Miller
 * June 23rd - Trevor! in Journey to Sector 5-G, created by Adam Shaheen and Jeff Rockburn
 * June 30th - Nikki, created by Debby Solomon
 * July 7th - Foe Paws, created by Chris Savino
 * July 14th - Uncle Gus: For the Love of Monkeys, created by Lincoln Pierce
 * July 21st - Lucky Lydia in Club Lydia, created by Arthur Filloy and Bob Camp
 * July 28th - Longhair and Doubledome: Good Wheel Hunting, created by Gavrilo Gnatovich
 * August 4th - Lost Cat, created by David Feiss
 * August 11th - Prickles the Cactus, created by Denis Morella

2nd Big Pick
The pilots shown during the Second Big Pick (August 24-26, 2001) were:
 * June 8th - Captain Sturdy, created by Ashley Postlewaite, Darrel Van Citters and William Waldner.

The long-retired Captain Sturdy must return to action when the Union of Super Heroes cancels his pension. Upon returning to duty, he discovers that the organization has lost sight of what it means to be a superhero and has become more concerned with political correctness and marketing deals than saving the world from the evil Moid's clutches.


 * June 15th - Yee Hah &amp; Doo Dah, created by Kenny Duggan.

A cowboy and his horse, Yee Hah and Doo Dah, reside in Manhattan's Central Park. Yee Hah enjoys the city life until he discovers that the city pavement is giving him a dreadful blister. Much to Doo Dah's dismay, he decides to stop walking and ride his horse everywhere, thereby cramping Doo Dah's power-lunching lifestyle. Eventually, Doo Dah finds the real culprit behind Yee Hah's sore feet: the branding iron, tractor, etc. that Yee Hah has been hiding in his boots.


 * June 22nd - Imp, Inc., created by Charlie Bean and Chris Recardi.

Travelling in an orbiting meteor, three Imps are up for review and are offered the opportunity to help a poor farm couple by granting them their wish for desperately needed rain to help their crops. They manage to deliver rain, but their hopes for promotion come crashing down when their meteor smashes the couple's crops.


 * June 29th - My Freaky Family, created by John McIntyre

It's Nadine's first day of school, a significant historical event considered by her mother to be one of many "milestone days" which must be documented with a photo. She manages to make it onto the school bus without being photographed, but her "freaky" family grabs the camera and jumps on the family multi-seater bicycle for a mortifying chase to catch up with her.


 * July 6th - Major Flake, created by Chris Kelly and Adam Cohen

Major Flake, a frenetic French cereal mascot, and his grim sidekick, Sparkles must find a way to sell their rather unappealing Major Flake cereal before their boss, Sylvia Soggy, pulls the breakfast treat from store shelves.


 * July 13th - Hotdog Champeen (Utica Cartoon), created by Fran Krause and Will Krause

When Dan Bear and Micah Monkey learn that they can get free hot dogs by beating the current hot dog eating record at their local diner, they are up for the challenge. Dan Bear reigns as hot dog champ by consuming loads of free hot dogs, continually beating his own record. For awhile he enjoys the free franks until beating the record becomes too much even for him.


 * July 20th - Kids Next Door, created by Tom Warburton

The Kids Next Door are five eager, yet bumbling, kids joining forces on a mission to free up the local pool from the tyrannical "Adult Swim," thus saving the neighborhood kids from having to use the dreaded "kiddie pool." This cartoon was picked up as Codename: Kids Next Door.


 * July 27th - Swaroop, created by Mike Milo and Atul Rao

Swaroop and his family are trying to assimilate their Indian heritage with modern American culture. The differences become glaringly apparent when their neighbor brings home a cow to throw on the barbeque. Swaroop decides to hide the sacred cow before the neighbors can cook it for dinner.


 * August 3rd - Ferret & Parrot, created by Scott Morse

A high-strung, paranoid ferret squares off against his fellow pet parrot when a mistaken love triangle develops between Ferret, Parrot, and "Yolanda the Aardvark," the star of a comic strip that lines the bottom of his cage.


 * August 17th - A Kitty Bobo Show, created by Kevin Kaliher

Kitty Bobo wants to prove that he's cool by getting a cell phone. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be receiving many important calls, thereby reducing his cool factor, so he begins to fake incoming calls. It's only a matter of time before everyone catches on to the farce.