Today, a TV show about the joy of being a kid ironically turns 20. Codename: Kids Next Door is an animated series created by Mr. Warburton [EDITOR’S NOTE: Not Patrick!], which had a 6 season run on Cartoon Network. It's about a group of five kids who have to protect the world from evil adults and then the weird lore kicks in. While the lore of the series might be worth its own longer article, I'm going to talk about the process the show took to get on the air, because it was an interesting process.
KND started pre-production as an entirely different show called Kenny and the Chimp, which was about a boy and his pet monkey. However after a first pilot, Mr. Warburton made up a set of five recurring antagonists called "Those Kids Next Door" that he quickly found more engaging than Kenny. A second Pilot that featured the kids next door as heroes was then produced. This second Pilot was featured in Cartoon Network's second Big Pick Weekend, a public poll Cartoon Network used twice in the early 00's to decide on television projects, where it won out over 9 other pilots. A victory only exemplified by the fact the show did run for 6 seasons, and is still well regarded to this day.
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