Editing Doonesbury (section)

==History==
[[File:Db701026.gif|thumb|600px|right|The first ''Doonesbury'' cartoon, from October 26, 1970]]

''Doonesbury'' began as a continuation of ''Bull Tales'', which appeared in the [[Yale University]] student newspaper, the ''[[Yale Daily News]]'', from 1968 to 1970. It focused on local campus events at Yale.<ref name=toonopedia>[http://toonopedia.com/doones.htm ''Doonesbury''] at [[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]]. [https://archive.today/20240527200414/https://www.webcitation.org/6gyAyqDzI?url=http://toonopedia.com/doones.htm Archived] from the original on April 22, 2016.</ref>

''Doonesbury'' proper debuted as a [[daily strip]] in twenty-eight newspapers on October 26, 1970<ref>{{cite book | title=The Art of the Funnies: An Aesthetic History | url=https://archive.org/details/artoffunniesaest0000harv | url-access= registration | publisher=Press of Mississippi | author=Harvey, R.C. | year=1994 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/artoffunniesaest0000harv/page/226 226] | isbn=0878056742}}</ref> (it being the first strip from [[Universal Press Syndicate]]).<ref>{{Cite news|url= http://doonesbury.washingtonpost.com/strip/archive/timeline|title=Doonesbury Comic Strips by Garry Trudeau| work=doonesbury.washingtonpost.com|access-date=2018-02-07|archive-date=August 4, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150804052211/http://doonesbury.washingtonpost.com/strip/archive/timeline|url-status=live}}</ref> {{Failed verification|date=December 2018}} A [[Sunday strip]] began on March 21, 1971.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hnuQBQAAQBAJ&q=%22March+21%2C+1971%22+doonesbury&pg=PA832|title=Comics through Time: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas|date=October 28, 2014|page=832|publisher=Abc-Clio |isbn=9780313397516|editor=Booker, M. Keith|access-date=October 17, 2020|archive-date=March 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210311230542/https://books.google.com/books?id=hnuQBQAAQBAJ&q=%22March+21%2C+1971%22+doonesbury&pg=PA832|url-status=live}}</ref> Many of the early strips were reprints of the ''Bull Tales'' cartoons, with some changes to the drawings and plots. [[B.D. (Doonesbury)|B. D.]]'s helmet changed from having a "Y" (for Yale) to a star (for the fictional Walden College). Mike and B. D. started ''Doonesbury'' as roommates; they were not roommates in ''Bull Tales''.

''Doonesbury'' became known for its social and political commentary. By the 2010s, it was syndicated in approximately 1,400 newspapers worldwide.<ref name="latobama">{{cite news |last=Villareal |first=Yvonne |title=Comic strip 'Doonesbury' predicts Obama win  |url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-et-doonesbury1-2008nov01,0,2244580.story |work=Los Angeles Times |date=November 1, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081106080928/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-et-doonesbury1-2008nov01,0,2244580.story |archive-date=November 6, 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In May 1975, ''Doonesbury'' became the first daily comic strip to win a [[Pulitzer Prize]], taking the award for [[Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning|Editorial Cartooning]].<ref name=toonopedia /> That year, U.S. President [[Gerald Ford]] told the [[Radio and Television Correspondents' Association]] at their annual dinner, "There are only three major vehicles to keep us informed as to what is going on in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]]: the electronic media, the print media, and ''Doonesbury'', not necessarily in that order."<ref>{{cite book | author=Blair, Walter and Hamlin Hill | title=America's Humor: From Poor Richard to Doonesbury | edition=First paperback | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=1980 | isbn=978-0-19-502756-3 | page=511}}</ref>

[[File:Stonewall-clip.png|thumb|600px|right|A panel from the a ''Doonesbury'' "Stonewall" strip, referring to the [[Watergate scandal]], from August 12, 1974; awarded the [[Pulitzer Prize]]]]

===1983–1984 hiatus===
Trudeau took a 22-month hiatus, from January 2, 1983, to September 30, 1984. Before the break in the strip, the characters were eternal college students, living in a [[Commune (intentional community)|commune]] together near Walden College, which was modeled after Trudeau's alma mater, Yale. During the break, Trudeau helped create a [[Doonesbury (musical)|Broadway musical of the strip]], showing the graduation of the main characters. The Broadway adaptation opened at the [[Samuel J. Friedman Theatre|Biltmore Theatre]] on November 21, 1983, and played 104 performances. [[Elizabeth Swados]] composed the music for Trudeau's book and lyrics.

===After the hiatus===
The strip resumed some time after the events in the musical, with further changes having taken place after the end of the musical's plot. Mike, Mark, Zonker, B.D., and Boopsie were all now graduates; B.D. and Boopsie were living in [[Malibu, California|Malibu]], [[California]], where B.D. was a third-string quarterback for the [[Los Angeles Rams]], and Boopsie was making a living from walk-on and cameo roles. Mark was living in Washington, D.C., working for [[National Public Radio]]. Michael and J.J. had gotten married, and Mike had dropped out of business school to start work in an advertising agency in New York City. Zonker, still not ready for the "real world", was living with Mike and J.J. until he was accepted as a medical student at his Uncle Duke's "[[Jean-Claude Duvalier|Baby Doc]] College" in [[Haiti]].

Prior to the hiatus, the strip's characters had aged only slightly. But when Trudeau returned to ''Doonesbury'', the characters began to age in something close to real time, as in ''[[Gasoline Alley (comic strip)|Gasoline Alley]]'' and ''[[For Better or for Worse]]'', Since then, the main characters' ages and career developments have tracked those of standard media portrayals of [[baby boomers]], with jobs in advertising, law enforcement, and the [[dot-com boom]]. Current events are mirrored through the original characters, their offspring (the "second generation"), and occasional new characters.

Garry Trudeau received the [[National Cartoonist Society]] Newspaper Comic Strip Award for 1994, and their [[Reuben Award]] for 1995 for his work on the strip.

=== ''Alpha House'' and hiatuses: 2013 ===
''Doonesbury''{{'s}} syndicate, [[Universal Uclick]], announced on May 29, 2013, that the comic strip would go on hiatus from June 10 to [[Labor Day]] of that year while Garry Trudeau worked on his streaming video comedy ''[[Alpha House]]'', which was picked up by Amazon Studios.<ref>{{cite news | last = Cavna | first = Michael | date = 29 May 2013 | title = This Just in: 'Doonesbury' to go on sabbatical as Amazon Studios officially picks up Trudeau's Capitol Hill comedy, 'Alpha House' | newspaper =The Washington Post | access-date = June 16, 2013 | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/comic-riffs/post/this-just-in-doonesbury-to-go-on-sabbatical-as-amazon-studios-officially-picks-up-trudeaus-capitol-hill-comedy-alpha-house/2013/05/29/3aba59ee-c866-11e2-9245-773c0123c027_blog.html | archive-date = March 11, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210311230604/https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/comic-riffs/post/this-just-in-doonesbury-to-go-on-sabbatical-as-amazon-studios-officially-picks-up-trudeaus-capitol-hill-comedy-alpha-house/2013/05/29/3aba59ee-c866-11e2-9245-773c0123c027_blog.html | url-status = live }}</ref> "Doonesbury Flashbacks" were offered during those weeks, but due to the unusually long hiatus, some newspapers opted to run different comic strips instead.<ref>{{cite news | last = Cavna | first = Michael | date = 9 Jun 2013 | title = POST PICKS UP 'FORT KNOX': Military strip will replace 'Doonesbury Flashbacks' for the summer | newspaper =The Washington Post | access-date = June 16, 2013 | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/comic-riffs/post/post-picks-up-fort-knox-military-strip-will-replace-doonesbury-flashbacks-for-the-summer/2013/06/09/9b1cdcc6-d167-11e2-9f1a-1a7cdee20287_blog.html | archive-date = June 14, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130614072805/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/comic-riffs/post/post-picks-up-fort-knox-military-strip-will-replace-doonesbury-flashbacks-for-the-summer/2013/06/09/9b1cdcc6-d167-11e2-9f1a-1a7cdee20287_blog.html | url-status = live }}</ref> Sunday strips returned as scheduled, but the daily strip's hiatus was extended until November 2013.<ref>{{cite news |last=Canva |first=Michael |url= http://www.buffalonews.com/life-arts/trudeau-extends-doonesbury-hiatus-to-finish-tv-series-20130910 |title=Trudeau extends 'Doonesbury' hiatus to finish TV series |date= September 10, 2013 |newspaper=The Washington Post |publisher=The Buffalo News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927052400/http://www.buffalonews.com/life-arts/trudeau-extends-doonesbury-hiatus-to-finish-tv-series-20130910 |archive-date=September 27, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

After ''Alpha House'' was renewed for a second season in February 2014, Trudeau announced that he would now produce only Sunday strips for the foreseeable future.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/comic-riffs/post/this-just-in%E2%80%94trudeau-puts-daily-doonesbury-on-long-term-hiatus-to-work-on-renewed-alpha-house-im-ready-for-an-extended-break/2014/02/11/e22bebbe-92d4-11e3-b46a-5a3d0d2130da_blog.html |title=Trudeau puts daily 'Doonesbury' on long-term hiatus |date=February 11, 2014 |newspaper=The Washington Post |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320165841/https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/comic-riffs/post/this-just-in%E2%80%94trudeau-puts-daily-doonesbury-on-long-term-hiatus-to-work-on-renewed-alpha-house-im-ready-for-an-extended-break/2014/02/11/e22bebbe-92d4-11e3-b46a-5a3d0d2130da_blog.html |archive-date=March 20, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> Since March 3, 2014, the strip has offered reruns starting from the very beginning of its history as opposed to the recent ones that re-run when Trudeau is on vacation.  ''Alpha House'' was cancelled in 2016,<ref>{{Cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/reliable-source/wp/2016/08/08/amazons-alpha-house-gets-the-ax/ |title= Amazon's 'Alpha House' gets the ax| last=Heil|first=Emily|date=August 8, 2016|newspaper=Washington Post| language= en|access-date=2020-03-12}}</ref> but Trudeau did not return to drawing Monday-to-Saturday strips, and continued his Sunday-only schedule.

In a 2018 interview with ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', Trudeau said that while [[Donald Trump]] appears in only a limited number of strips, "for the last two years, he's been subtext in almost all of them."<ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/garry-trudeau-donald-trump-doonesbury-728292/| title=Garry Trudeau on Trump, Satire and 'Doonesbury' at 50|last=Woods| first=Sean|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]| date=September 25, 2018|access-date=April 4, 2019|archive-date=April 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404152329/https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/garry-trudeau-donald-trump-doonesbury-728292/|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== TV special  ===
In 1977, Trudeau wrote a script for a 26-minute animated special, ''A Doonesbury Special'', which was produced and directed by Trudeau along with [[John Hubley]] (who died during the storyboarding stage)<ref name=solomon>{{cite book |last= Solomon |first=Charles |title=Enchanted Drawings: The History of Animation |year=1989 |publisher=[[Alfred A. Knopf]] |page=51 |isbn=978-0-394-54684-1}}</ref> and [[Faith Hubley]]. The special was first broadcast by [[NBC]] on November 27, 1977.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lenburg |first1=Jeff |title=The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons |date=1999 |publisher= Checkmark Books |isbn=0-8160-3831-7 |access-date=6 June 2020 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780816038312/page/253/mode/2up |pages=253–254}}</ref> It won a Special Jury Award at the [[Cannes International Film Festival]] for best short film, and received an [[Academy Awards|Oscar]] nomination (for best animated short film), both in 1978.<ref name=solomon/> Voice actors for the special included [[Barbara Harris (actress)|Barbara Harris]], [[William Sloane Coffin|William Sloane Coffin Jr.]], [[Jack Gilford]] and [[Will Jordan]]. Also included were "Stop in the Middle" and "I Do Believe", two songs "sung" by the character Jimmy Thudpucker, also part of the "Special". While the compositions and performances were credited to "Jimmy Thudpucker", they were in fact co-written and sung by James Allen "Jimmy" Brewer, who also co-wrote and provided the vocals for "Ginny's Song", a 1976 single on the [[Warner Bros.]] label, and ''Jimmy Thudpucker's Greatest Hits'', an LP released by Windsong Records, [[John Denver]]'s subsidiary of RCA Records.