This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Starting in March, cartoonist Garry Trudeau for the foreseeable future will no longer draw a daily "Doonesbury" strip, affording him more time to write and produce the Amazon Instant Video comedy "Alpha House."
As a result, The Salt Lake Tribune and other newspapers that carry "Doonesbury" must decide whether to drop it on weekdays or offer "Doonesbury Flashbacks" starting the week of March 3.
That's where readers come in.
While Trudeau will continue to create new Sunday strips, daily strips will draw from an archive of 13,000 strips the 65-year-old cartoonist has drawn in the past 43 years.
"We'll revisit the stories that put 'Doonesbury' on the cover of Time magazine and made it the first comic strip to win a Pulitzer Prize for cartooning," Universal Press Syndicate, the strip's distributor, said in a news release. "This historical perspective will bring back memories for older readers and help introduce 'Doonesbury' to new readers."
So go with "Doonesbury Flashback" or try something new in its place? Tribune readers can weigh by commenting at the end of this blog post, or by sending an email to lisac@sltrib.com.
Trudeau last summer took an extended hiatus to work on "Alpha House," which stars John Goodman and offers a satirical look at four Republican senators sharing a House in Washington, D.C.
Amazon Studios renewed the program for a second season, prompting Trudeau's decision to take a second leave from drawing "Doonesbury" daily.
"There's no way of knowing how many seasons of 'Alpha House' lie ahead," Trudeau said in a statement, adding he could be back to drawing "Doonesbury" full time in the fall.
Then again, he might not depending of the comedy's success.