# Why is the Doonesbury strip in repeats? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 24, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-doonesbury-strip-in-repeats/487211 "2009-02-24T16:31:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-doonesbury-strip-in-repeats/487211/1 "2009-02-24T16:31:23Z")
Is Trudeau just sick or on vacation? Or is there some interesting controversy behind it? Anyone know? ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-doonesbury-strip-in-repeats/487211/2 "2009-02-24T16:33:43Z")
Cartoonists take breaks every once in a while. I think “Get Fuzzy” is also in reruns this week. (Our paper actually notes when a strip is being rerun and from which year, which is kind of nice.) ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-doonesbury-strip-in-repeats/487211/3 "2009-02-24T17:26:35Z")
Trudeau takes vacations regularly – several times a year. When he does, they always show repeats. Ed ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-doonesbury-strip-in-repeats/487211/4 "2009-02-24T17:29:04Z")
Also, the choice of repeats often foreshadows an upcoming storyline. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-doonesbury-strip-in-repeats/487211/5 "2009-02-24T17:31:18Z")
What a relief. I thought Rick was being let go from his blog! ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-doonesbury-strip-in-repeats/487211/6 "2009-02-24T18:48:30Z")
Get Fuzzy has also been in repeats lately. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-doonesbury-strip-in-repeats/487211/7 "2009-02-24T19:22:52Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Get Fuzzy has also been in repeats lately. So’s Doonesbury! They may have gone to a convention together? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-doonesbury-strip-in-repeats/487211/8 "2009-02-24T19:34:26Z")
Cartoonists getting vacation time is a fairly recent phenomenon; I seem to recall that it was led by cartoonists like Trudeau and Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes), who had enough of a draw with fans to be able to force changes to the standard contracts. I read the Chicago Tribune. What I find interesting is that, for some strips, when the cartoonist is on vacation, the Trib runs the "repeat’ strips (that’s what they’re doing with Doonesbury this week). But, for other strips, they run an alternate strip in its place – for the past few years, “On a Claire Day”, which isn’t a regular Trib strip, has regularly appeared as a replacement strip. This week, the Trib has been running On a Claire Day in place of Get Fuzzy, but with the following note: “(At press time, new Get Fuzzy strips were unavailable. Please enjoy this strip in its absence.)” This is as opposed to the note that’s running with the Doonesbury repeats: “(Doonesbury is on vacation this week. Please enjoy this strip from September 2008.)” It seems to me that the Trib runs alternate strips for Get Fuzzy, with the “not available at press time” note, every couple of months. It makes me wonder / worry about Darby Conley.