This is almost certainly a short story by John D. MacDonald (who executed a few gems of science fiction alongside his great Travis McGee and crime / melodrama novels). I taught it in a mass comm course a few years ago as an example of early VR fears a la The Matrix. Complete reference: MacDonald, John D. "Spectator Sport." The Great SF Stories 12. Eds. Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg. New York: Daw, 1984. 19-25. Take care, Bob On Thu, 8 Apr 2004, James Monaco wrote: > Here's my 1950s Sci-Fi Query. > > It's not a film (at least i don't think so), but a short story that has > stayed with me ever since. > > Sometime in the future (maybe as late as 1990). The streets of New > York. There is little traffic. Grass is growing in the streets. Stuff > happens. More stuff happens. > > The punchline is that by this time everybody makes enough money by the > time they are thirty to retire, go down in the basement, and plug > themselves into the TV to live other lives for 50 or a hundred years. > Once in awhile, they wake up to change the channel. For a couple of > years you are John Wayne. Then for a few years more you are Jimmy > Stewart. Then Alan Ladd. > > (Actually, I was Alan Ladd, but only for two days. That's another > story.) > > Does anyone have a lead? > > If not, can you recommend a list to direct this query to? > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- > > James Monaco > Harbor Electronic Publishing > 80 East 11th St New York NY 10003 > 212 777 5463 sales: 800 269 6422 > > http://HEPDigital.com > > ---- > Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite > http://www.ScreenSite.org > > > ---- Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite http://www.ScreenSite.org