The Future of Television Induces One to Consider the Big Issues

Outside the Roosevelt Hotel, where The Future Of Television conference is continuing (and, mercifully, concluding) today, that venerable tourist attraction the Hollywood Walk of Fame includes stars for Jack LaLanne, James Brolin and Cybil Shepherd, and the street is redolent with the aroma of glamour and bums. Those stars implanted in the sidewalk honoring TV personalities feature little TV sets with giant rabbit ears – already plenty outdated.

In the future (imagine an imposing if somewhat dated sci-fi-y echo on those words), if we’ve learned anything here at The Future Of Television conference, when LonelyGirl15 and Fat “Star Wars” Kid and Bulldog on a Skateboard and Melodramatic Prairie Dog all receive their Walk-of-Fame stars, the TV will look completely different. But will it look like a plasma screen or a laptop or an iPhone?

Hmm. Given that the Walk-of-Fame stars boast very little detail in their graphics, it’s safe to say it’ll just look like a generic rectangle.

(The TV stars aren’t as outdated as the recording-industry stars, however, which are represented by a vinyl record with a tone arm laid across them (younger readers – ask your parents about this mythological “vinyl” and these oppressive “tone arms”). How will music-industry stars be represented in the future? By iPods? A record label’s bankruptcy papers?)

Currently, the Walk of Fame honors artists in five categories (fun fact: Gene Autry is honored in each of them): Live Performance, Radio, Recorded Music, TV and Movies. This would seem to be a pretty egregious oversight on the behalf of whoever’s in charge of issuing stars: You’d think they’d want to honor the stars of the new-media and digital age, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates and everyone who has made entertainment that much easier to access. But again: What kind of image would grace these stars?

Here’s a suggestion.