As Time Goes By: The Complete Series, Vol. 3 [2 Discs]

Season 3 of the series finds things progressing nicely. After a sometimes bumpy ride toward real love, Jean & Lionel begin to take their relationship in a much more definitive direction. Alot happens this season, and it is one of the best of the series.

Episode 1 has Lionel & Jean vacationing in Paris. It is a tender and funny episode, and finds the two having to babysit some squabbling newlyweds.

Episode 2 is a classic: the wedding of Lionel's father Rocky to the charming and unique Madge. Lionel also proposes that he and Jean live together.

Episode 3 is a favorite of mine, as it shows a realistic problem that couples who want to live together face: do I give up my place, or do you give up yours? Oh, and Lionel gets carted off to the police station!

Episode 4 features a visit from Jean's sister-in-law Penny (from Jean's previous marriage), and her long-suffering husband Stephen. Those two are always a treat.

Episode 5 finally has the BIG MOVE. It has one of my favorite parts of the series in it, where Judi Dench does a superb job portraying Jean's emotions, as plans Lionel has made for them end up hurting her feelings.

Episode 6 finds Jean wanting to expand her secretarial agency.

Episode 7 is a pivotal one, for it is the first time that Alistair (Lionel's publisher) mentions that an American network is interested in producing a mini-series out of Jean & Lionel's young romance, and their eventual reuniting. This plot line will carry-through until its resolvement in season 5.

Episode 8 takes place in Los Angeles. Lionel and Jean go there to discuss the mini-series with some rather stereotypical Hollywood types, and Lionel ends up almost losing the deal due to his attitude. I actually really liked this episode. It was a change of pace.

Episode 9: the manager of the secretarial agency's new branch is classy, industrious, sharp as a tack, and attractive: so of course Jean dislikes her from the get-go. A good revelatory episode for some of Jean's insecurities.

And, finally, episode 10 ends the season pretty quietly, as Lionel gets a new secretary to help him write the script for the mini-series, and he expresses misgivings about the whole venture (though the money for it is incentive enough for him to keep going).

"As Time Goes By" is a comfortable show. It takes time to tell its story, and the jokes are nice and smile-inducing, rather than guffaw-laden like some shows are prone to be (not that that is always a bad thing, either). Geoffrey Palmer and Judi Dench help prove that there is love after 50, as if anyone over 50 needed proof of that, anyway. Curl up next to the one you love and watch this splendid show on crisp & clear DVD, and enjoy.