Cartoon Network's Big Pick is a series of short films that Cartoon Network aired from June 16-August 25, 2000. They were aired weekly at 9:00pm, as part of the Cartoon Cartoon Fridays block. The goal of this was to give the viewers a preview of possible shows that were to be created. The viewers would then vote on which show they would like to see created.
After the “Cartoon Cartoon Weekend” marathon which included 52 hours of original series and all of the contending pilot shorts, the voting was held. Viewers could call a toll-free number or vote online. Out of the last three choices of “Grim & Evil”, “Whatever Happened to Robot Jones?” and “Longhair and Doubledome”, "Grim & Evil" won. "Whatever Happened to Robot Jones?" was still given a chance but was shortly canceled due to low support of the show.
The entire list of shorts included:
The pilot for "Sheep in the Big City" was also shown, but that series was already in production before voting even began. They wanted to show the viewers what was new.
A year later, a new series of shorts were presented to be voted on in much the same manner. This time, "Codename: Kids Next Door" won the voting and was greenlit as a series. In 2002 the Big Pick was reborn as the Cartoon Cartoon Weekend Summerfest, airing eight original pilots. However, this time viewers would not vote to choose which pilot would become a series. "Megas XLR" (then called "Lowbrow"), was aired during Summerfest, and emerged as a new series the next year. Notably, "Longhair and Doubledome" also reappeared during the 2002 Summerfest.
No similar events were held in the years since due to the short-lived relaunch of Cartoon Cartoon Fridays as Summer Fridays (eventually relaunching again as Fridays) in 2003.
