Long-Lost Original Yule Log Returns, 50 Years after Its NYC Metro Debut

If there’s no fireplace in sight during your holidays, there’s always Yule Log TV to give you that roaring fire in the background on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.

Specially because the original Yule Log returns to the air 50 years after its debut.

Yule Log TV got its start in New York. It premiered in full-color on Christmas Eve, Saturday, Dec. 24, 1966, at 9:30 p.m. on WPIX Channel 11 in New York City (it had been filmed at Gracie Mansion, and that backstory is hilarious).

This year, returning to the not-so-small-anymore screen will be that original version, which has not been seen on air since the film degraded. According to WPIX, the 1966 Yule Log film was found in the vast film collection donated by the estate of former PIX11 executive Bill Cooper and his wife, Kay Arnold, and restored this year.

PIX11 will air the 1966 Yule Log on Christmas Eve and it will stream on PIX11.com and Facebook Live (on PIX11 News, PIXYuleLog and WPIXArchives Facebook pages) from 11 p.m.-12 a.m.

Also you can catch it the same places Christmas morning from 7-8 a.m. followed by the also classic 1970 version of the Yule Log from 8 a.m.-noon.