DVD Review by David Blackwell

DETAILS: 1057 minutes (24 episodes on 6 discs), four audio commentaries, four featurettes, montage

VIDEO: 1.78:1 (Anamorphic Widescreen)

AUDIO: English 5.1, English Stereo, Spanish Stereo

Subtitles: English, Spanish, Portuguese

STUDIO: Paramount/ CBS DVD/ CBS Paramount Network Television

RELEASE DATE: 4-24-2007

DISC 1- KILL ARI Part 1 and 2/ MIND GAMES/ SILVER WAR

DISC 2- SWITCH/ THE VOYEUR'S WIFE/ HONOR CODE/ UNDER COVERS

DISC 3- FRAME-UP/ PROBIE/ MODEL BEHAVIOR/ BOXED IN

DISC 4- DECEPTION/ LIGHT SLEEPER/ HEAD CASE/ FAMILY SECRET

DISC 5- RAVENOUS/ BAIT/ ICED/ UNTOUCHABLE

DISC 6- BLOODBATH/ JEOPARDY/ HIATUS Part 1 and 2

Season 3 brought change to NCIS. Two new cast members. One was a new member of the team while the other, Jennifer Shepard (Lauren Holly), became the new director of NCIS (with past romantic ties to Gibbs). I love the new agent Ziva better than I ever did Kate. She is someone who can really take anything Tony throws at her while being one deadly chick. The season finale sets the stage for a few changes that run into the fourth season. I do think imagining Kate in KILL ARI almost makes NCIS jump the shark. As a procedural drama, I do think NCIS is many times better than JAG could ever be. It has a sense of humor that effortlessly blends with eth action and drama.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Four audio commentaries were recorded for this set-

KILL ARI Part 1 by Donald P. Bellisario

FRAME-UP by Pauley Perrette and Michael Weatherly

BOXED IN by Avery Drewe and David Bellisario

BLOODBATH by Pauley Perrette and Michael Weatherly

Donald is very dry while David Bellisario has more life in him on his audio commentary while the tracks by Pauley and Michael are always fun to listen to (Pauley calls a guest star on her cell phone during one track). Still it would be grat to hear from other cast members on the audio commentaries (even though they do contribute to the featurettes).

Four featurettes and a HIT THE HEAD MONTAGE are also included on the set.

THE REAL N.C.I.S.- the roles N.C.I.S. play: investigation, protection, intelligence.

THE ROUND TABLE- the producers and Donald Bellisario discuss the season 3 episodes.

THE WOMEN OF N.C.IS.- it is all about the women characters and the actresses who play them.

N.C.I.S. SEASON OF CHANGE- cast and crew discuss how N.C.I.S. changed during season 3.

THE MENUS- I wonder what happened to the wonderful video menus of the first two seasons. season 3 has bland still photo menus. I hope the other type of menu is back for the season 4 set.

FINAL ANALYSIS- Season 3 mantained the bar for NCIS. New cast members kept this baby going like usual. the extras aren't bad, but any fan wants it for the episodes.

RELATED DVD Reviews:

NCIS Season 1-

http://enterline2.tripod.com/ncis_season1.html

NCIS Season 2-

http://enterline2.tripod.com/ncis_season2.html