Doonesbury Town Hall?

In the world of political cartoons, one name stands above all others, bestriding the genre like the Colossus of Rhodes. Garry Trudeau has been writing Doonesbury for thirty-four years, commenting on American political life and foreign policy since Vietnam with the help of a dizzing cast of deadpan characters and a Greek chorus of real-life political figures. He's even been nominated for an Oscar for an animated Doonesbury special, and was the first daily comic strip artist ever awarded the Pullitzer prize. As if that weren't accolade enough, he's also been badmouthed by virtually every member of the Republican Party. Now he's set to tackle a new job as a screenwriter. He has previously written Doonesbury specials and mini-series, but now Trudeau will tackle an as-yet untitled film about a teenager who becomes mayor of his small city. The film, which is apparently bi-partisan (despite Trudeau's regular lampooning of Bush Senior and Junior), is loosely based on the true stories of two teenagers elected mayor of their respective towns, one a liberal democrat and the other a conservative republican. The idea is that the film will take a semi-serious look at the difficulties of running a town and serving the public while also finishing high school, going to prom and dating. Trudeau is also writing a HBO mini-series for Robert Altman to direct, providing him with a nice little sideline when the cartooning gets too much. While this film will hit after the election is long done and dusted, let's hope that it can tap into the same political curiosity that propelled Fahrenheit 9/11 to success. Incidentally, if you want to check out Doonesbury for yourself, you can go to www.Doonesbury.com for the only commentary you'll ever need on American politics.