I've read a sampling of reviews for Season 3, most stating that 3 isn't as strong as Season 2; I heartily disagree. Season 2 felt disjointed, like filler to me (though of course I still loved it!), but Season 3 keeps the story moving forward. I like that the characters are maturing, unlike the Friends characters who irritated me acting early 20's well into their 30's. There's a natural progression here, that includes some sentiment and drama in addition to the comedy. I simply love this show~ BRAVO to the entire team that creates and excecutes it.

The HIMYM gang [again guided by director Pam Fryman] returns with 20 more legendary episodes in How I Met Your Mother - Season Three. When Season 2 of How I Met Your Mother ended, Marshall and Lily had finally hooked back up (and tied the knot), but Ted and Robin had suddenly split up. The situations were reversed when Season 1 ended. Season Three picks up sometime later after Season Two with Robin introducing her new Argentinean lover, Gael (Enrique Iglesias) to the gang and Ted hooking up with a wild tattooed woman (Mandy Moore) after going out to party with Barney. The end result from that encounter later leads Ted (in "Ten Sessions") to a chance meeting with Stella (Sarah Chalke, fresh from NBC's recently ended Scrubs), a dermatologist and possible "mother" candidate who he falls for in the season's most engaging story arc. Props must be given to the series creators for the attention to continuity featured each season as past acquaintances (Trudy from Season One's "The Pineapple Incident" returns with a tempting opportunity for Ted in "Third Wheel") and plot devices ("The Goat" from Season One's "Milk" and Season Two's "Slap Bet" in "Slapsgiving") are revisited this season with hilarious results. Guest stars include Britney Spears (in a comeback role and the show's highest rated episode ever), Danica McKellar ("The Wonder Years"), Busy Philipps ("Dawson's Creek," "ER"), Maggie Wheeler ("Friends"), James Van Der Beek ("Dawson's Creek"), Wayne Brady ("Whose Line Is It, Anyway?"), Will Forte ("Saturday Night Live") and models Heidi Klum, Marisa Miller, Alessandra Ambrosio, Selita Ebanks and Adriana Lima. How I Met Your Mother - Season Three is a 3-disc set featuring all 20 episodes from the 2007-2008 season; Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1) video; plus extras.

Episodes:
1. Wait For It...
2. We're Not From Here
3. Third Wheel
4. Little Boys
5. How I Met Everyone Else
6. I'm Not That Guy
7. Dowisetrepla
8. Spoiler Alert
9. Slapsgiving
10. The Yips
11. The Platinum Rule
12. No Tomorrow
13. Ten Sessions
14. The Bracket
15. The Chain of Screaming
16. Sandcastles in the Sand
17. The Goat
18. Rebound Bro
19. Everything Must Go
20. Miracles

Special Features:
* Audio Commentary on select episodes by cast & crew
* Series Retrospective
* Lily and Marshall's Honeymoon Videos
* Cast Favorites featurette
* How It Really Happened: Wait For It...
* How It Really Happened: We're Not From Here
* How It Really Happened: Little Boys
* How It Really Happened: Third Wheel
* How It Really Happened: How I Met Everyone Else
* How It Really Happened: I'm Not That Guy
* Behind The Scenes Of "We're Not From Here"
* Unrated Gag Reel
* You Just Got Slapped Video
* Ted Mosby is a Jerk Audio Track
* Robin Sparkles "Sandcastles in the Sand" Music Video

How I Met Your Mother - Season Three
Highly Recommended!

PLEASE NOTE: This review contains SPOILERS.

I've been a fan of How I Met Your Mother from Day One, so I don't use a phrase like "starting to slip a little" lightly. But the fact is, season three just doesn't quite measure up to the previous two.

The main problem, as I see it, is that the writers felt the need to create ongoing conflict between the core group of friends. Sure, conflict is necessary to keep things interesting. But I think the ensemble in this show is better served by external conflicts (e.g., Barney and Ted's various problems with the opposite sex, Marshall's work-related stress, etc.). Watching Ted and Robin try to one-up each other after a painful breakup last season was. . .well, not that funny. Later in the season, Ted and Barney's friendship was on the rocks.

Otherwise, there were plenty of well-written and funny shows. Here's a few highlights:

"Slapsgiving" pays off the long-running joke from last season's "Slap Bet."
"We're Not From Here" allows Barney and Ted to cut loose, posing as out-of-towners.
"How I Met Everyone Else" introduces us to a classic Barney Stinson gimmick: The Crazy/Hot Scale.
"Ten Sessions" introduces Ted's major love interest Stella (Sarah Chalke), probably his most memorable girlfriend since season one's Victoria. His manic (and successful) attempt at a two-minute date is probably the high point of the season.
"Sandcastles in the Sand" brings back Robin Sparkles. . .and culminates in an ending so shocking, you'll be grateful you don't have to wait another week to see what comes next.

I guess it's fair to say the good outweighs the not-so-good in season three. At its heart, How I Met Your Mother is the longest tease in television history (yet a few tantalizing clues as to the identity of "mother" are dropped this year). I hope they can keep it fresh awhile longer, even though the inherent illogic of its premise (just how long have Ted's kids been sitting on that couch listening to Bob Saget?) may soon start weighing heavily even on fans like myself.