When The West Wing ended 10 years (and three months) ago, the series finale was originally meant to be preceded by a retrospective of the entire show. That idea was scrapped due to compensation issues, and NBC merely re-aired the pilot instead. For the past five years, footage from that would-be retrospective has been lurking on filmmaker’s Jonathan Buss’ Vimeo page. And now a Tumblr post has brought it back into the limelight.
The West Wing Retrospective from Jonathan Buss on Vimeo.
The five-minute video starts with interviews featuring the cast and creative team. They discuss how much the show has affected their lives and pay tribute to John Spencer, who died during the show’s seventh season. The video then transitions into a music video-style retrospective of the show’s entire run. Sprinkled throughout are behind-the-scenes shots of the last day of filming. Though not exactly timely, it makes the perfect accompaniment for those revisiting the show alongside The West Wing Weekly podcast.