Season three was going to be the most successful for the show according to critics, who had started to really like the show, and began to shower it with the awards. HBO brought home the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, a Golden Globe for Best Comedy Series, and a Golden Globe for Best Actress (Sarah Jessica Parker). Some would say that this was the best season yet, and there were some episodes that really stood out from not only previous seasons, but two of them could be some of the best written of the series. The jokes are prevalent, the sex is flowing just like in the first two seasons, and of course the central characters control the screen for the 18 episodes that comprised the third season.
Sex and The City is of course the story of 4 women amidst the stressful dating scene within New York City. The primary star, and narrator to the show, is Sarah Jessica Parker in the role of Carrie Bradshaw. Carrie writes a sex column for a major New York newspaper, and through it tells the story of sex and dating within the city. Of course she draws from personal experience to find article topics, and through the article she also learns life lessons. Her three friends are played by Kim Cattrall as Samantha Jones, Kristin Davis as Charlotte York, and Cynthia Nixon as Miranda Hobbes. All four are quite intelligent women, who are strong in the professional world, but have had issues with finding the perfect guy along the way. It of course leads to a lot of dating and talk of sex between the friends, as they all head down different roads trying to find "Mr. Right."
The season starts out with an interesting episode where Carrie and the girls end up going to a talent show where she is a judge, enabling her to meet a politician that she strikes up a relationship with. Unfortunately, he has one quirk in the bedroom that sends her running for the hills, and if you have seen this episode you probably know exactly what I am talking about. It's only a small bump in the road to get the season started, and in the same story-arc from the premiere, Samantha gets to try and fulfill her firehouse fantasy. There are more tangible events to the season though, as Carrie gets into a relationship that is quite serious, and which she finds almost too good to be true. This introduces supporting character John Corbett (From Northern Exposure and many supporting film roles), as the love interest that seems to be exactly what she is looking for. The season also finds Charlotte strengthening her search to find the perfect husband, not always with stellar results.
I thought that the third season has a lot of new material to offer its audience, with three of the characters taking new routes in their story-lives. Samantha is of course one of those characters in there for the humor (and sex) and her character doesn't really evolve, but does spice up the screen for a few episodes. A couple highlights that make this a worthwhile season are the 3-episode arc where the girls travel to Los Angeles (from their NY home) where they meet a number of celebrities, and of course what I alluded to earlier, the introduction of John Corbett to the cast. As a male viewer, I was quite pleased to have a character come in like this, but don't expect it too be completely drama free with Mr. Big (Chris Noth) making an appearance this season too. The show finally reached some accolades for its writing, and even though the show is quite racy and not appropriate for normal television, this HBO show had a quite successful third season illustrated on this three-disc set. There aren't really bonuses to speak of, other that character bios that you have to read, but that doesn't stop me from recommending the show.
Season 3 Episode List:
Where There's Smoke
Politically Erect
Attack of the five foot ten Woman
Boy, Girl, Boy, Girl
No ifs, ands or Butts
Are we Sluts?
Drama Queens
The Big Time
Easy Come, Easy Go
All or Nothing
Running with Scissors
Don't Ask, Don't Tell
Escape from New York
Sex and Another City
Hot child in the City
Frenemies
What goes around comes Around
Cock-A-Doodle-Do
Other Seasons of Sex and The City:
Sex and The City: The Complete First Season
Sex and The City: The Complete Second Season