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54 of 58 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Season, December 8, 2005
This is the first full season where Jimmy Smits and Dennis Franz are teamed together. NYPD picks up where it left off the previous season, breaking new ground in police drama.
There are some standout episodes which I consider "must see's" for any NYPD Blue fans. The first episode is "Backboard Jungle"; an episode where Sipowicz is removed from a case after exchanging racial epithets with an African American civil rights leader, who is being uncooperative with police. Another great episode is "A Tushfull of Dollars" in which one of Simone's CI's life is put in danger because of other cops more concerned with getting credit on cases. And towards the end of the season, "A Death in the Family" has Sipowicz suffer an immeasurable loss and has his old demons resurface, and could cost him his job, his marriage, and his life.
The bond between the two detectives really evolves over this season, and is totally solidified at the end of the season, when Simone does everything possible to save Sipowicz from losing everything.
It is unfortunate that it took over two years for this season to be released. But hopefully, this will be just the beginning of the other seasons being available. Simone was the best fit for Sipowicz. And the 3rd season of NYPD Blue is the springboard.
Here is the list of the epsidoes in Season 3......
E.R.
TORAH! TORAH! TORAH!
ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY
HEAVIN' CAN WAIT
DIRTY LAUNDRY
CURT RUSSELL
AGING BULL
COLD HEATERS
SORRY, WRONG SUSPECT
THE BACKBOARD JUNGLE
BURNIN' LOVE
THESE OLD BONES
A TUSHFULL OF DOLLARS
THE NUTTY CONFESSOR
HEAD CASE
GIRL TALK
HOLLIE AND THE BLOWFISH
HE WAS ROBBED
AUNTIE MAIMED
A DEATH IN THE FAMILY
CLOSING TIME
HE'S NOT GUILTY, HE'S MY BROTHER
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Great Show, Horrible New Packaging, June 3, 2007
I'll skip the glowing praise for the show in this short review, and instead address something I feel has been largely ignored: the packaging.
Seasons 1 and 2 came in a nice fold-out boxed set and ran at 6 DVDs. They played great on all my DVD players and were as beautiful as the content on them. Unfortunately, someone decided to save money by using 2-sided DVDs and reduce the count to 4 (and smaller packaging as well) with Seasons 3 and 4. For those of you not familiar with dual-sided discs I say this . . . Ordinarily, if they are used it's to have a 1-side is fullscreen (pan and scan) 1-side is widescreen movie disc. This is in itself no great hardship, since the main issues with such discs (there's nowhere to safely touch but the inner ring and outer edge, which is damn difficult putting it in or taking it our of a case) is mitigated by the owner's preference of 4:3 or 16:9; That is, you'll always play one or the other so the inevitable fingerprints are not that big a deal, since you'll touch the 'top' you never play.
Unfortunately, the episodes in NYPD Blue are on both sides of all the discs, so the inevitable fingerprints (and I imagine scratches, sooner or later) prevent you playing episodes. Not to mention that out of the box I had issues playing them on one of my DVD players. I don't know if it's bending the spec on compression, oversized discs, or some exotic new copy-protection mod, but I will say this: I resent buying discs that appear designed to fail and cost me to replace later on. I, for one, would gladly pay extra for the single-sided DVDs and larger packaging they used previously. I'm Extremely unhappy with the new packaging\discs and would advise anyone looking to get the series to think twice if they have problems with newer or dual-sided DVDs.
Short form? Horrible changes I suspect were just to boost a profit margin at the fans' expense. Not only am I unlikely to pick up Season 5 or later if they stick with the format, I'm seriously considering unloading what I already bought.
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23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Blue is back, and better than ever!, April 4, 2006
Fans of NYPD Blue have had to wait a long time between the release of Season Two, a number of years ago, and the recent release of season three. But, if the quality of the episodes in season three is taken in to account, it was well worth the wait.
Season two was the season of change on NYPD Blue, with Bobby Simone (Jimmy Smits) taking over as partner to Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz). Season three saw the two actors gel and their characters formed the friendship and the partnership that would last throughout the years.
Season three also saw Franz win his second Emmy award for his portrayal of Sipowicz, the former alchoholic cop, who had been dealt a tough hand in life and often took it out on thugs and perps. In season three, however, things appeared to be turning around for Andy. He got married to DA Sylvia Costas (Sharon Lawrence) at the end of season two, and had struck up a new relationship with his son Andy Jr. (guest star Michael DeLuise), one that continued to blossom in season three. Andy finally appeared happy, with the drinking days behind him and a partner he worked well with. Sylvia became pregnant and gave birth to Theo, making Sipowicz the happiest that any viewer of the show had seen him. It seemed his life was on track.
Then came the brutal murder of Andy Jr. The younger Sipowicz was killed while trying to stop a robbery and assault, just days before he started his job as a police officer, a job that he had been learning from his father. The death of Andy Jr. sent his father over the edge, as he reverted to drinking again and got in fights and was kicked out of his home and the precinct. As the season came to an end, he had found his way back into both after being beaten badly while in a drunk stupor.
Without a question, Sipowicz was one of the best television characters ever created and nobody could've played him better than Franz. He deserved all the acclaim and honors that he received for bringing this character, flaws and all, to life.
For Simone, the year was a better one, at least in many regards. He began a relationship with fellow detective Diane Russell (new series regular Kim Delaney), one that would last until Simone's death a number of years later. Simone made it his personal mission to track down the killers of his partner's son and eventually ended up shooting the suspects in a street shoot out. Delaney's Diane also began the year coming out of the bottle, but was tempted back in when her mother killed her father after a domestic dispute. She stayed away, for the most part, and kept her relationship with Simone intact.
Greg Medavoy (Gordon Clapp) and James Martinez (Nicholas Turturro) began to work a lot more together in the third season, eventually leading up to the pair being partners. Medavoy's clumsy, stuttering ways and Martinez's cool, hip style were complete opposites, but the pair clicked and their partnership was settled. Medavoy saved Martinez's life when he was shot in the season opener and the two helped to provide some small comic relief in many of the episodes throughout the season.
Lieutenant Arthur Fancy (James McDaniel) is in charge of the 15th precinct and has his hands full with his unique group of detectives. A big moment for him is his argument with Sipowicz over a racial matter. While the two characters basically have made up by the end of the season, there is always tension between the two.
Donna Abondondo (Gail O'Grady) the precinct's PAA, left the series with two episodes to go in the year. O'Grady was becoming a star and creator Steven Bocho knew they were going to lose her, so he created a job at Apple Computer in California, where the lovely Ms. Abondono headed. Her character was eventually replaced by John Irving (Bill Brotchrup), who makes a number of guest appearances in this season.
The final main character was Detective Adrienne Lesniak (Justine Miceli). This was her only credited season on the show, though she had appeared in many episodes as a guest star in season two. She battles thoughts of homosexuality early in the season, but eventually enters a relationship with Martinez, but her jealousy rears its ugly head, breaking up the relationship as the season draws to a close.
This set has two solid commentary tracks, as well as three featurettes, one on the season in general, one on the relationship between Andy and Andy Jr. and one on the women of NYPD Blue.
The only drawback to this set is the packaging. The first two seasons had great packaging, with six discs and a great case to hold them. This season has four double-sided discs with slim cases. I imagine this was a cost issue and quite possibly, if this change hadn't been made, we may never have seen Season Three at all, so really, I can't complain too much about that.
All told, this is a fantastic set and I blazed through the whole thing in a weekend. The stories are riveting, the characters are engaging and the show is addictive, just as it was when it was on network television every Tuesday at 10 p.m.
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