Girlfriends
The Third Season
4-Disc Compilation
CBS Paramount
8 Hours, 43 Minutes
Tracee Ellis Ross, Golden Brooks, Persia White, Jill Marie Jones, Reggie Hayes
Available Feb. 12, 2008

Season Three of Girlfriends is a compilation of 25 episodes which take you through the lives of four beautiful and smart African-American women as they navigate the maze of break-ups and make-ups, weddings and illnesses, and friendships and enemies. Set in California, and executively produced by Kelsey Grammar (Frasier, Cheers), Girlfriends delves into today’s hot subjects with honest and fresh writing coupled with risqué banter.

To understand Girlfriends one must understand the cast and how their lives play out in this season. It is only fitting that each major cast member receive a snippet highlighting their characteristics and transitions this season.

Joan Clayton (Tracee Ellis Ross is a lawyer extraordinaire who has had numerous failed relationships. Blame it on her need to control every situation, or her over analysis of just about everything, but in this season we encounter many firsts for Joan. One of these firsts is Joan’s chance gym meeting with an actor named Ellis Carter (Adrian Lester). Of course Joan goes into her relationship with Ellis promising herself she will treat this differently by not going “all Joan” on him. But her need to change is tested in the episode “Blinded by the Lights” when Ellis asks Joan to a movie premiere of his latest film only to turn around and ask her to pretend they are not together to maintain his single status. Joan does not go “all Joan” on him but tries to be the supportive girlfriend. The other girlfriends in response do not think Ellis is worthy of the support Joan is giving him and lets her know this in true Girlfriends character (a whole lot of funny, a whole lot of “Hell No!!”, and a whole lot of great friendship support.) To recuperate and save their budding relationship, Joan then gets Ellis to plan a magazine interview to showcase their status to everyone that snubbed her at the movie premiere. Another first for Joan is the upcoming wedding of Toni. Always a bridesmaid and never a bride was Joan’s mantra, but, how she handles Toni’s nuptials throw the dynamic of the group into a frenzy.

Toni Childs (Jill Marie Jones) knows exactly what she wants and almost always gets it. There’s no surprise then when she meets the perfect man; he’s a doctor, he’s handsome, and he’s rich, what more could Toni ask for? But, everything is never as it appears, and Toni’s dream man Dr. Todd Garrett (Jason Pace) comes with his own faults, a few of them are he’s short and he’s white (too bad he can’t change these characteristics even though Toni pokes fun at them in every episode they are in.) The relationship between Toni and Todd sparks controversies in the girlfriends’ clique. Not because of Todd’s tireless devotion to Toni or the joy he brings her, but of Toni’s inability to sometimes cope with things she cannot change. A great example of the funny, yet serious aspects of Toni and Todd’s relationship is in episode “Happy Valentine’s Day”¦Baby?” When Todd gives Toni a Valentine’s Day card with a picture of an African-American couple running on the beach hand-in-hand, she freaks out and immediately worries that Todd is only with her because of her race. In true Toni Childs “˜divaness’, she dons a mini-dress, platforms, and an afro wig and gives Todd what he supposedly desires. Too bad, la diva didn’t read between the lines. Important caveat: Toni and Todd make it down the aisle at the end of this season, and the ceremony is beautiful!

Lynn Searcy (Persia White), the directionless but lovable vegan girlfriend, is up to her old tricks in this season. She has yet to pay back a loan that is maliciously affecting her parents’ credit, she has planned another get-rich scheme (thankfully this one did not include a llama, or clandestine trips to Mexico), and surprisingly has her own firsts following in the footsteps of another girlfriend. Spurred on by her parents and friends, Lynn is forced into the world of gainful employment in “Don’t Leave Me a Loan.” The friends take away Lynn’s black clothing, and dress her in business casual. The look of fear and loathing (had to somehow throw in a Hunter S. Thompson reference when we’re talking about Lynn) on her face as she sees herself in a royal blue business suit, complete with tights and sensible heels, breaks the vestige of our Indigo Sky (all of you Girlfriends mavens know this reference, if you don’t I would suggest watching the sitcom, it’s on Mondays at 9pm on the CW.) Another first for Lynn is she puts her promiscuity on hold when she meets Sivad (Saul Williams) in “Take This Poem and Call Me in the Morning.” Sivad is everything Lynn wants. This spoken-word artist is not only beautiful to look at, but is socially conscious and politically aware. But the thorn in this rosebush is Sivad has been celibate for five years and plans to be celibate until his life partner comes along. How does someone that can barely be celibate for 5 days cope with dating someone celibate for 5 years, you may ask? You’ll need to watch as Lynn tries to see how far she can get with Sivad with an “I’m celibate too” routine, with humor, and finally with pleading. One word: FUNNY!

Maya Wilkes (Golden Brooks) is the saucy round-the-way girl that can lift up the spirits of all of the girlfriends with her anecdotes, and can tear them down with a carefully, but spicily thrown quip. In this season Maya deals with her separation from her husband Darnell (Khalil Kain) after her affair with an attorney at the law firm that she, Joan, and William work for. In “Getting Our Act Together,” Maya and Darnell seek help to come to terms with what has occurred in their marriage, but they quickly see that the church or therapy does not help them as much as a romp in the sheets. But, the romp makes Maya believe things are working a lot better between them than they actually ar,e which moves the couple further apart and into uncharted waters. Most of the development Maya goes through is in reference to her broken marriage. In “Single Mama Drama,” Maya meets and gains a girlfriend who works in the law firm as a cleaning woman who is going through what she is. But, Joan does not approve of their friendship because the new friend is single and working it to the fullest, and Maya is single but only because Darnell will not take her back. In this episode we learn that birds of a feather should not necessary flock together because sometimes they just need to venture their own ways. Maya’s season is not all marked by unhappiness; she moves into an apartment with her son and goes back to school, she meets a cute neighbor who wants to date her, and she starts seeing that she can and will live life even if it can’t be with the man she loves (as is displayed in episode “Where Everyone Knows My Name”).

William Dent (Reggie Hayes is the best male friend that any woman could have. He is funny, he listens, he gives advice, he is intelligent, and he’s safe (all of the ladies know what I mean, but for the gentleman: a safe male friend is someone that women can be themselves with completely without fear of upsetting the relationship, he is the person you would never date personally, well almost never, but who you would set up with your other girlfriends because he is an awesome person). When William begins to date Monica (Keesha Sharp), the claws come out and the hissing starts. In “Invasion of the Gold Digger” we learn that Monica is not really what she seems, she is simply not the woman that wants to run through all of the accoutrements of William, but the girlfriends realize that she is something much more evil and harder to manager. Monica is the cut-throat ruthless woman who strives to get her man to the top of his career and does not care who she steps on to get him there. When the overbearing manner of Monica makes William miss a Christmas party planned for Maya and Darnell’s son Jabari (Tanner Scott Richards), he ends the reign of Monica (she returns in later seasons, and you really need to see what happens between the two, sitcom magic!). William also has a fling with a woman named Sharon Upton Farley (Anne-Marie Johnson) who not only stole an important case from him, but who takes his partnership!

Girlfriends is a well-written sitcom. I have watched this show since it first premiered and it is interesting to see Mara Brock Akil develop these four women interestingly and personably. The audience responds to Girlfriends just like they do for the cast of women in Sex and the City. They draw kinships because every viewer has the ability to throw themselves into any project whole-heartedly and passionately as Joan. We all have the pretension of Toni, the earthiness of Lynn, and the straight-forwardness of Maya. Girlfriends is one of those sitcoms that will be rerun forever because their issues are timeless and are appropriate for any woman at any point in their life. Just as a side note, this sitcom in not strictly for the ladies, the male stars handle their business, afterall, our world does not simply revolve around our girlfriends, even if it feels that way.

DVD Bonus Features

It’s What You Wear That Counts

This special feature shows the importance wardrobe plays in portraying the individual personalities and traits that our four leading ladies and one leading gentleman have. Mara Brock Akil, the show’s creator and writer, and the costume manager work together to storyboard every piece of clothing the cast wears. Joan’s character is a lawyer, but still a clothing maven with individual likes and dislikes. She is dressed in vintage and designer clothing to display her “jazzing up” the stuffy law firm in which she works. Maya is as stylish as Joan and attempts to break the boundaries of stiff lawyer clothing, but does so on a budget. Lynn is a free spirit that does not wear leather or animal byproduct clothing to fit her vegan and holistic lifestyle. Toni is the epitome of fabulousness. Every piece of clothing she wears is designer and fits her body to a tee.

Here Comes the Bride: An Invitation Inside “The Wedding” – Featurette

This featurette talks about the filming of the last two episodes of Season Three which center around Toni’s wedding. Differing from the previously directed episodes, the writer’s husband, Salim Akil, directed these episodes and shot them as single camera opposed to the four-camera setup that most sitcoms work with. The “Wedding Episodes” are portrayed as miniature movies with ultra close-up shots and tighter group shots.