The Third Season

Girlfriends is a television sitcom about the daily lives and relationships of four African American women and their male friend. The series first aired on UPN in the fall of 2000 and it was very successful. Since, the show has continued to be well-received by viewers and even had a spin-off series The Game in 2006. It was created by Mara Brock Akil and has Kelsey Grammar (Frasier, Cheers) as an executive producer. For more details about this series, refer to DVD Talk's reviews of season one and season two.

Season three has a lot of dramatic developments in the fold from new romance and relationships to divorces to office politics to serious issues like AIDS. The season is much more dramatic than the first two, but it still manages to get in several good laughs. For fans of the show, season three is worth checking out and newcomers will also appreciate the fun-filled twists that Joan and friends go through as they try to get through another year of that crazy thing called life.

The season's biggest developments involve the main characters and their romantic interludes. Two plotlines continued from season two deal with Joan and Maya. Joan had two love interests, Chris and Sean, and begins season three with none. She is desperate to find a new mate and even has a "Bring Your Ex" party to find someone new. Unfortunately, it does not work out in her favor. However, as fate would have it, she later meets Ellis Carter (Adrian Lester). Ellis is a charming actor and they have an on and off again relationship throughout the season. As for Maya, her relationship with husband Darnell is going downhill. In season two, she admitted to having an affair with another man. Since, they have been separated. Maya goes through the season hoping to patch things up with Darnell, only to find he wants a divorce.

The other main characters experience love and new relationships. Notably is Toni. In "Secret and Eyes", Joan has a surprise birthday party for Toni -- despite the fact she does not want one. The truth about Toni's real age comes out. She gets depressed about growing older and has botox injections, which turns out to be a pretty fun episode. As a result, Toni meets a handsome, but short Jewish doctor named Todd Garrett (Jason Pace). Todd and Toni develop a fun chemistry together and eventually date. It is a serious relationship that plays a big part in the season's second half.

As for William, he has a couple love interests. First, he meets Monica Charles Brook (Keesha Sharp). Monica is a highly connected, ambitious woman. The two have an awkward relationship that is not based on love, but his career potential. After Monica, William has an office romance with the new boss Sharon Upton Farley (Anne-Marie Johnson). Lynn also finds love with a romantic poet named Sivad (Saul Williams). Their relationship is a bit weird and humorous because he is celibate and Lynn is a freaky horn dog.

Other developments include William quitting the law firm after being passed up for a promotion, Joan realizing her career has hit a standstill, Lynn getting a real 9 to 5 job, Lynn meeting her birth mother, Lynn making a documentary about AIDS and its toll on the African American population, an old friend revealing she has AIDS, Toni making amends with her family, William becoming a father (sort of), and more.

Overall, Girlfriends' third season continues to deliver a lot of laughs. The cast continues to work well together, especially William's overly goofy personality and Joan's neurotic behavior. They meld together with the dramatic storylines to produce some good old fashion sitcom humor.

Episode Guide

1. Coming To Terms: Singles Welcome! Joan throws a party hoping to find someone and totally strikes out. The, she decides to hit the road and starts training for a marathon. It's been weeks and Maya still can't get Darnell to open up.
2. Getting Our Act Together: A pastor helps Maya and Darnell pick up the pieces of their marriage. Maya finds the therapy doesn't do nearly as much good as an afternoon in bed. It's bottoms up when Lynn lowers the bar as the world's most inexperienced bartender.
3. Secrets And Eyes: A birthday plan of Joan's exposes something about birthday girl Toni she didn't want anyone to know - her real age. Then after a bungled botox treatment, Toni turns to a plastic surgeon to make her feel younger.
4. Star Craving Mad: Joan has a love/hate relationship with an actor she met working out. Then William's sister has a couple of surprises. First, she's gay, and second, she wants him to be a sperm donor for her girlfriend.
5. Don't Leave Me A Loan: Lynn's got an outstanding loan that's killing her parents' credit rating, so now they want her to get a job and pay up. Then, Lynn's friends rally and help her get her head together for her interview.
6. Invasion Of The Gold Digger: Everyone hates William's obnoxious girlfriend, Monica. She even talks him into abandoning a case he has agreed to work on with Joan to further his own ambitions at the office. Meanwhile, Toni clicks with Dr. Garrett, a plastic surgeon. There's just one problem... his height.
7. Blinded By The Lights: Ellis' new movie has its big premiere and Joan's invited, as long as she doesn't act like they're together and helps him retain his single status. Then, he tries to do damage control by doing a magazine interview with her.
8. Handling Baggage: Darnell is caught with another woman at Red Lobster. Maya thinks that now that they've both crossed the same line, it's time to sit down and decide where their relationship is headed.
9. The Mommy Returns: Sandy, Lynn's bio-mom, shows up unexpectedly at Joan's place. They become fast friends until Lynn is shocked by Sandy's actions. Then Lynn quits her job to work on a film about sexuality.
10. A Little Romance: Todd protects Toni and she loves him for it, but she still can't wrap her head around being with a short guy.
11. Santa v. Monica: To pump up Jabari's belief in Santa, William plans to don the big red suit. Then, Monica plans for him to host the yuletide party for the partners on the same night. It's a Christmas conflict with no easy out.
12. Take This Poem And Call Me In The Morning: Lynn gets the hots for a poet until she finds out he hasn't been hot for anyone in five years. Meanwhile, William struggles to get the girls to forgive him after the Christmas fiasco.
13. Howdy Partner: It's Joan vs. William for partner at the firm until there's an upset on both sides and the company brings in someone from the outside. They both want to walk out, but will they have the guts to go through with it?
14. Single Mama Drama: Joan feels that Maya's friendship with another single parent, the cleaning woman at the Law office, is going to hurt her chances with Darnell. Lynn pulls a bogus birthday con to get cash gifts from her fellow workers.
15. Happy Valentine's Day... Baby?: When Todd gives Toni a tasteless Valentine, she's worried that he only wants her because she's an African-American. Ellis wants Joan to have the most romantic Valentine's Day ever, but everything changes when he finds out that his former girlfriend is pregnant and he's the father.
16. Sex, Lies & Books: Maya's feeling so lost and alone after moving, she doesn't even notice the fine guy next door. To life her spirits, Todd and Toni talk her into going on a date with Todd's buddy, but the evening turns into a complete fiasco.
17. A Stiff Good Man Is Easy To Find: When Toni lets the "M" word slip out, the talk of marriage causes a relationship crash. Toni disappears, leaving Todd to beg for help from her friends. When they show him that Toni truly cares for him, he's forced to face how he really feels about her.
18. Runaway Bridesmaid: William, Lynn & Maya pool their resources to be able to afford something special on Joan's gift list. Jealous over Toni's plans to marry, Joan tries to lose herself by gearing up for a major marathon.
19. The Pact: Joan goes ballistic when Reesie, the woman who moved in on her boyfriend, is asked to be Toni's bridesmaid.
20. Where Everyone Knows My Name: Maya sees Darnell in an old familiar place, but finds out everything's changed. William takes a shot at his lifelong fantasy... to dance on Soul Train.
21. Too Much Sharin': William is still hot and heavy with Sharon. Joan tells Sharon she knows about them, causing Sharon to immediately dump William. Livid, William wants nothing to do with Joan, causing Maya to wonder what's really going on.
22. Blood Is Thicker Than Liquor: Toni is petrified that she will mouth off to Todd's parents about how much she dislikes that they are Jewish. Meanwhile, William feels his friendship's in jeopardy when his buddy starts seeing Maya.
23. The Fast Track And The Furious: Maya's hope for big bucks leads her to pressure William to hire her as his helper. During a trip with Toni to Virginia Lynn finds out a frightening fact about Sandy's well-being.
24. The Wedding Part 1: All is not well on the way tot eh church. Toni is furious at the distracted Joan for not being there for her and bans her from the ceremony. Uncomfortable with their history together, Sivad forces Lynn to leave.
25. The Wedding Part 2: I do, I don't, I just don't know. As the wedding approaches, an angry Todd disappears. Joan begs to be back in the wedding party.

The DVD

Video:
The video is given in widescreen color with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. The quality is good and offers a fairly sharp and clean picture. There is a grain and minor compression artifacts. There are also some hints of edge enhancement, but there is nothing that should interfere with your viewing experience.

Audio:
The audio track in this release is given in English Dolby digital stereo sound. The audio sounds pretty clean and is very flat. It is as basic as TV on DVD releases get. This release also supports closed captioning.

Extras:

• It's What You Wear That Counts (17:24): is an interview featurette about the show's wardrobe lead. It features Mara Brock Akil, Stacy Beverly, Jill Marie Jones, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Persia White. The focus is on Stacy Beverly, who is responsible for wardrobe.
• Here Comes The Bride: An Invitation Inside "The Wedding" (20:52): is an interview featurette about the season finale and all of the key season three moments building up to it. It stars Mara Brock Akil, Salin Akil, Jill Marie Jones, Reggie Hayes, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Persia White. The discussion focuses on Toni and Todd's relationship.

Final Thoughts:
Girlfriends is a television sitcom about a four girls and a guy and their daily lives. The show's third season primarily focuses on the dramatic developments in their love lives. It addresses the up and downs of dating, divorce, marriage, and more. There are also other story arcs about AIDS, office politics, and more. Despite the seriousness of the plotlines, the cast continues to do a fine job mixing it up and keeping the tone comical.