In 1966, WPIX in New York aired the original Yule Log show, a loop of a log burning in a fireplace. The station aired it for a few years before re-filming it in 1970, as the original had “degraded.” The original video was thought to be lost to history, but apparently it’s been uncovered, digitally restored, and will be making a return to the airwaves tonight at 11pm ET. As The Gothamist notes, it was shot in Gracie Mansion and was meant, in part, to help give TV station employees the day off.
If you’re not in New York (where WPIX airs it for city dwellers who don’t have a proper fireplace), you can watch a live stream of the broadcast on this Facebook page. “The master film contains two minutes of color footage, and the fireplace itself loops every seven seconds,” WPIX says, and it was restored in July of this year.
If you don’t want to wait for the original, there are easily thousands of them available on YouTube — both traditional and tongue-in-cheek. We’re partial to the one we made, of course, commemorating 2016, the Worst Year of Batteries.