Sex And The City: The Complete Third Season
HBO Home Video
Cast: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon
Extras: Commentary Track, TV Spots, Production Notes, Awards & Nominations, Cast & Crew Bios
Rating:
HBO Home Video continues their pledge to DVD collections with the release of ’Sex and the City: The Complete Third Season’. This 3-disc set features all 18 episodes from the third year of this critically acclaimed and award-winning comedy series. These shows follow the adventures of sex columnist Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), sexy PR expert Samantha Jones, uptight ’princess’ Charlotte York (Kristin Davis), and curmudgeon lawyer Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon). As Season Three opens, Carrie is attempting to get over her torrid and painful love affair with Mr. Big (Chris Noth), and things begin to look up when she meets Aidan Shaw (John Corbett). But, Big is also lurking in the background, and in Carrie’s thoughts, waiting to destroy her happiness once again. This season also sees the introduction of Trey MacDougal (Kyle MacLachlan), who sweeps Charlotte off of her feet and gives her the story-book wedding that she’s always wanted…but can he provide the perfect marriage? Some of the best episodes occur when the women take a trip to Los Angeles, so that Carrie can explore turning her column into a film.
This third season of ’Sex and the City’ witnesses the program continuing to do all of the things which made it popular in the first place, while growing at the same time. Now that the characters and situations have been firmly established, the writers are free to explore more dramatic and often hilarious situations. And, as usual, the show is still just as brash and ’in your face’ as ever, exploring topics that most other shows would never mention. This set will be a welcome treat for fans of the show, or for those who don’t have HBO and must wait for these DVD sets to get their ’Sex and the City’ fix.
With this set, the 18 episodes are presented in their original full-frame format. The image is sharp, but there is a noticeable amount of grain in some shots. The colors are very good and there is little to no artifacting for the most part. Overall, the transfer rivals that of a digital broadcast signal, with the resolution of the DVD format accentuating some of the inherent flaws, such as the grain. The Dolby 2.0 Surround audio track provides clear dialogue, with no distortion. The surround sound effects are limited to musical cues and crowd noises, but they do add ambience to the viewing experience.
In the past, the ’Sex and the City’ DVD sets haven’t had much in the way of extras, but that’s been remedied (slightly) this time. Four episodes, ’Easy Come, Easy Go’, ’All or Nothing’, ’Running with Scissors’, and ’Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ (all found on Disc Two) feature audio commentary by writer/producer Michael Patrick King. King’s talk is very fun and informative as he discusses the production of each episode and the motivation behind the stories. Also included are production notes which give an overview of the Season Three, cast & crew biographies, and a listing of the awards which the show has won or been nominated for. In the ’Season Index’ menu, one can access promo spots for each episode.
