Commentary on the state of morning TV?

December 28, 2001 5:22 PM

Commentary on the state of morning TV? A New York TV station ran a two hour video of a burning piece of wood on Christmas day and it beat Good Morning America, etc. in the Nielsens.
posted by mragreeable (22 comments total)

Log! It's thick it's heavy it's wood!
Log! Log! It's better than bad, it's good!
posted by jonmc at 5:29 PM on December 28, 2001

I tivo'd the yule log and I'm NEVER GOING TO DELETE IT!

yule log rules!
posted by palegirl at 5:30 PM on December 28, 2001

Bring Back the Log Website

More in depth history from the NYTimes. (Free registration required)
posted by perplexed at 5:34 PM on December 28, 2001

KOFY TV-20 in SF, CA used to run 24 hours of 'The Yule Log' up until their demise (last couple of years or so). It was awesome. Cheesy Christmas songs and the occasional arm adding a log or poking around the fire...

Someone needs to burn a VCD of that bad boy and let it loose on the net... woohoo!
posted by cvoid at 5:39 PM on December 28, 2001

With stiff competition like this, GMA needs to take a very special holiday trip up Katie Couric's colon next year.
posted by MrBaliHai at 5:48 PM on December 28, 2001

This is really a New York television tradition... I remember it from childhood, visiting my grandmother in NJ, but I was too young to know all this history behind it.
posted by rschram at 5:48 PM on December 28, 2001

It's big, it's heavy, it's wood.
posted by tpoh.org at 5:59 PM on December 28, 2001

If WPIX is looking for material for Easter, my rabbit, Oliver, is available.
posted by gsteff at 6:45 PM on December 28, 2001

Thanks for the fun link mragreeable. Visit www.wpix.com and scroll a bit on the index file for video feed of the Yule Log.
posted by argus at 6:48 PM on December 28, 2001

Ah, TV-20's Yule Log. The best thing about it was that it was about a 90 minute loop, so you'd see the same wood burning again and again...the same arm reaching in to poke the same embers. It prepared us for the constant monotony of life from a young age.
posted by Kafkaesque at 6:50 PM on December 28, 2001

now priced to own at just 12 dollars.
posted by complex at 6:56 PM on December 28, 2001

I enjoy watching for the splices in the yule log video much like Dennis Hopper in "Speed."
posted by machaus at 7:25 PM on December 28, 2001

The log kicks ass, although you'll never see a woman flashing her breasts* behind it.

*Safe for work. There's video if you haven't seen it and you care to search for it.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 7:38 PM on December 28, 2001

It's big, it's heavy, it's wood.
You said wood...hehehehe
(sorry some one had to do it)
posted by Bag Man at 8:20 PM on December 28, 2001

They should put the log on "Survivor". It'd be more fun to watch!
posted by mantaray at 8:27 PM on December 28, 2001

My father was showing me the digital video cable he recently upgraded to, and when we got to the 40 music only channels, he seemed a little upset that they blacked out the screen. 40 channels of burning log might be too much to handle though. I'll have to make sure that I get him the Your Christmas Yule Log Fireplace Video^tm next year.
posted by bragadocchio at 8:58 PM on December 28, 2001

When has there been anything worth watching during the Christmas holiday? Other than the World Junior Hockey Tourny...
posted by yupislyr at 10:45 PM on December 28, 2001

Forget the "Your Christmas Yule Log Fireplace Video", I want the DVD with multiple angles and optional director commentary.

"Okay, this is the part where the hand comes in with the poker and pokes at the log... right there, see that? Yeah, that was Mike, one of our P.A.'s. He didn't even tell anyone he was gonna do it. Gave us all a good laugh."
posted by toddshot at 11:11 PM on December 28, 2001

Commentary on the state of morning TV?
commentary on the state of morning TV viewers.
posted by quonsar at 1:42 AM on December 29, 2001

You'd think people who miss "The Log" would just create a Flash-based Yule log with rotating photos of the log and background carols.

Sadly, YuleLog.com is not used for that purpose.
posted by Down10 at 1:52 AM on December 29, 2001

A little spoof (2:30, RealAudio) on the Director's Cut Yule Log DVD, courtesy the NPR Players.
posted by DakotaPaul at 10:34 PM on December 29, 2001

I sat by the screen. Focused on it. Took deep breaths and exhaled slowly and found enlightenment. Then I had to go church and lost it all.
posted by Postroad at 5:09 AM on December 30, 2001