Season 3 (Grey's Anatomy)

The third season of Grey's Anatomy premiered September 21, 2006 and ended May 17, 2007. Unlike the previous seasons, it was broadcast on Thursday nights on 9 PM on ABC. The season consists of 25 episodes.

Summary
They are doctors, lovers, and friends. Join the staff of Seattle Grace Hospital as they learn there are no easy cures for life's challenges and that each choice comes in shades of gray. More secrets, more personal stories, and many more McSteamy moments. Seriously.

Plots

 * Izzie mourns over Denny, and is surprised when she discovers that he left her 8 million dollars.
 * Cristina helps Burke cover up for the fact that his hand tremors from the gunshot wound he recieved in 17 Seconds.
 * Meredith drowns and visits the "afterlife", where she meets Denny, Dylan, Bonnie, and Liz.
 * Ellis Grey dies.
 * George's father dies.
 * George marries Callie in Vegas, and they deal with the resulting reactions from people in the hospital.
 * George cheats on Callie with Izzie.
 * Addison leaves Grey's Anatomy to start the spin-off series Private Practice.
 * Burke leaves Cristina at the altar.

Main Cast

 * Ellen Pompeo as Dr. Meredith Grey (25/25)
 * Sandra Oh as Dr. Cristina Yang (25/25)
 * Katherine Heigl as Dr. Izzie Stevens (25/25)
 * Justin Chambers as Dr. Alex Karev (25/25)
 * T.R. Knight as Dr. George O'Malley (25/25)
 * Chandra Wilson as Dr. Miranda Bailey (25/25)
 * James Pickens, Jr. as Dr. Richard Webber (25/25)
 * Kate Walsh as Dr. Addison Montgomery-Shepherd (25/25)
 * Sara Ramírez as Dr. Callie Torres (25/25)
 * Eric Dane as Dr. Mark Sloan (24/25)
 * Isaiah Washington as Dr. Preston Burke (25/25)
 * Patrick Dempsey as Dr. Derek Shepherd (25/25)

Special Guest Stars

 * Paul Adelstein as Dr. Cooper Freedman (2/25)
 * Amy Brenneman as Dr. Violet Turner (2/25)
 * Tim Daly as Dr. Pete Wilder (2/25)
 * Taye Diggs as Dr. Sam Bennett (2/25)
 * Merrin Dungey as Dr. Naomi Bennett (2/25)
 * Chris Lowell as Dell Parker (2/25)
 * Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Denny Duquette, Jr. (3/25)
 * Kyle Chandler as Dylan Young (2/25)
 * Chris O'Donnell as Dr. Finn Dandridge (4/25)

Recurring Guest Stars

 * Greg Pitts as Jerry O'Malley (4/25)
 * Tim Griffin as Ronny O'Malley (4/25)
 * George Dzundza as Harold O'Malley (6/25)
 * Debra Monk as Louise O'Malley (4/25)
 * Elizabeth Reaser as Rebecca Pope (11/25)
 * Brooke Smith as Dr. Erica Hahn (2/25)
 * Kali Rocha as Dr. Sydney Heron (5/25)
 * Kate Burton as Ellis Grey (6/25)
 * Mare Winningham as Susan Grey (5/25)
 * Sarah Utterback as Nurse Olivia Harper (4/25)
 * Mitch Pileggi as Larry Jennings (1/25)
 * Steven W. Bailey as Joe (10/25)
 * Robin Pearson Rose as Patricia (2/25)
 * Diahann Carroll as Jane Burke (4/25)
 * Loretta Devine as Adele Webber (4/25)
 * Chyler Leigh as Dr. Lexie Grey (2/25)
 * Jeff Perry as Thatcher Grey (6/25)
 * Mandy Siegfried as Molly Thompson (2/25)
 * Monica Keena as Bonnie Crasnoff (1/25)
 * Roger Rees as Dr. Colin Marlow (3/25)
 * Dean Norris as Vince (2/25)
 * Kelly Wolf as Carly Height (2/25)
 * Tsai Chin as Helen Rubenstein (2/25)
 * Brian Tee as Andy (2/25)
 * Jack Yang as Walter (3/25)
 * Derek Phillips as Dale (2/25)
 * Anna Maria Horsford as Elizabeth Fallon (1/25)
 * Mae Whitman as Heather Douglas (2/25)
 * Héctor Elizondo as Carlos Torres (1/25)

Prominent Guest Stars

 * Embeth Davidtz as Dr. Nancy Shepherd
 * Jillian Bach as Gretchen
 * Mary-Margaret Humes as Nancy Jennings
 * Shavon Kirksey as Maya Bennett
 * Parisa Fitz-Henley as Cami Davis
 * Rachel Boston as Rachel
 * Jessica Stroup as Jillian Miller
 * Justina Machado as Anna Nyles
 * Margo Harshman as Jennifer Morris
 * Suzanne Cryer as Caroline Klein
 * Roxanne Hart as Dana Seabury
 * Stephanie Faracy as Mrs. Sullivan
 * Tina Holmes as Rebecca Bloom

Recurring Co-Stars

 * Kate Anthony as Nurse Kate (5/25)
 * Moe Irvin as Tyler Christian (7/25)
 * Ray Ford as Paramedic Ray (1/25)
 * Brooke Blanchard as Paramedic Jill (1/25)
 * Mary Joy as Voice (of Tilly) (2/25)
 * Garon Grigsby as Keith (2/25)
 * Jeffrey Markle as Greg (2/25)
 * Billy Mayo as Rick (2/25)
 * Madison Leisle as Lisa the Child (2/25)
 * Linda Eve Miller as Nurse Melanie (1/25)
 * Linda Klein as Nurse Linda (2/25)
 * Zibby Allen as Nurse Zibby (2/25)
 * Jeremy Rabb as Jeremy Bennett (2/25)
 * Jack Axelrod as Charlie Yost (2/25)
 * Maile Flanagan as Lab Tech (1/25)
 * John O'Brien as Tech Jeffrey (1/25)
 * Patricia Bethune as Nurse Ginger (2/25)
 * Shenita Moore as Nurse (1/25)
 * Joyce Guy as Ms. Henry (1/25)
 * Terrance Christopher Jones as Paramedic (1/25)
 * Mac Brandt as Paramedic (1/25)
 * Candice Afia as Laura (1/25)
 * Joseph Williamson as Dr. Pierce Halley (1/25)

Notes and Trivia

 * ABC announced on July 18, 2006 that the third season would premiere on September 21, 2006.
 * On May 16, 2006, ABC announced plans for a third season of Grey's Anatomy to anchor the network's Thursday evening programming set to air at 9 PM ET. This time slot was tested before with encores of It's the End of the World and As We Know It at 9:30 PM, positioning the show against CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Without a Trace, Fox Network's The OC and NBC's long-running medical drama, ER. The solid performance of the repeat airings, maintaining a second-place finish, may have been influential in the fall scheduling decision.
 * The move to Thursdays was viewed as a vote of confidence in the series from ABC, as well as a bid to attract more advertising dollars, since movie studios heavily advertise movies on Thursday evenings for that weekend's box office. The move was cited as one factor for competing network NBC's decision to move its own Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, originally intended to air Thursdays at 9 P.M. ET.
 * The series assumed its new Thursday slot on July 6, 2006, as part of a two-hour event featuring a repeat of the pilot episode, "A Hard Day's Night." Throughout July and August, the series aired twice weekly — once in the new Thursday time period, and once in its previous Sunday time period. Grey’s Anatomy performed strongly in the show's new timeslot in its season premiere.
 * Meredith Grey narrates the voice overs for all episodes, except for:
 * From a Whisper to a Scream's, which is narrated by Cristina Yang.
 * The voice overs of Six Days, Part 1 and Part 2, which do not have voice overs.
 * Didn't We Almost Have It All?, of which the voice over is narrated by Richard Webber.

Reception
Nielsen Ranking (2006-07 U.S. TV season; based on average total viewers per episode): #4 (22.3 million viewers).

It was able to snatch away the No. 1 position from CSI: Crime Scene Investigation during the 9 p.m. hour, bringing in an impressive 25.14 million viewers throughout the hour and a strong 10.9 rating in the vital 18-49 demographic. In comparison, CSI's season premiere earned a competitive 22.04 million total viewership and a 7.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic.

DVD Release


The "Grey's Anatomy: Season Three – Seriously Extended" boxset was released in region 1 on September 11, 2007. On September 15, 2008 and October 31, 2007, the DVD was released in regions 2 and 4 respectively.


 * Set Details

The boxset contains the 25 episodes of the season, with four extended. The DVD box contains 7 discs. Other set details are:
 * English (Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround)
 * Audio Commentaries of Kate Walsh, Chandra Wilson, Ellen Pompeo, Kate Burton and Sandra Oh for the first, fourteenth and twenty-first episode.


 * Special Features

Additional to the episodes, the season 3 DVD set also contains a couple of special features:
 * Extended Episodes:
 * "Time Has Come Today"
 * "Where the Boys Are"
 * "Great Expectations"
 * "Wishin' and Hopin'"
 * Making Rounds With Patrick Dempsey  – Spend Some Private Time With Patrick Dempsey At The Track
 * Prescription For Success: Make Jane Doe a Star
 * Shades of Grey: One on One with Ellen Pompeo
 * In Stitches: Season 3 Outtakes
 * Dissecting Grey's Anatomy – Unaired Scenes
 * Good Medicine: Favorite Scenes