A blog about television by TIME’s TV critic James Poniewozik.

The Yule Log: Now Yulier, Loggier

yule_log.jpg

I took some guff for praising WPIX's Yule Log as one of my seven essential holiday TV programs earlier, but apparently someone else also thinks there's still some heat in that old stick. Through January 4, Comcast is offering a new, HD version of the log through its On Demand service. It's not the same broadcast introduced on local New York City TV in 1966; says the cable provider, their log is a newly produced version, "filmed in 1080i picture and Dolby 5.1 sound."

I don't have Comcast, but I dunno: isn't the antiquated, old-TV aesthetic of the original part of its appeal, like a dated, tarnished but beloved Christmas ornament you drag out of the attic once a year?

On the other hand, with the HD log, you can "enjoy a clearer picture of the burning log from a variety of angles." Because, you know, I've always wondered what the broadcast would look like from the perspective of the log.

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    Things that suck do not usually suck less because they're in HD (or, as Beavis and Butthead would say, "Just because one thing's cool doesn't mean that something else doesn't suck"). Just sayin'.

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