Less 'Peanuts,' More Web

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And syndicated information products will continue to grow

The year 2000 was going to be a time of 50th anniversaries for two superstar comics: "Peanuts" and "Beetle Bailey."

Mort Walker's King Features Syndicate strip is still marching toward its September milestone, but fate has pulled the football away from Charles Schulz.

Instead of looking forward to the 50th "Peanuts" birthday in October, Schulz is trying to recuperate from colon cancer and strokes. United Media will distribute "Peanuts" reruns starting Jan. 4 for daily comics and Feb. 20 for Sunday ones. How many of Schulz's 2,600-plus clients are buying them? See next week's E&P for an update.

Meanwhile, some newer strips will continue to push the envelope on comic pages that are less tame than they used to be, but still …