I could not wait to put these first 4 episodes into my DVD player and get a sneak peek at the crisp, witty writing and acting of television’s finest comedy that is currently playing. I still do not understand how Season 2 got snubbed out of every Emmy category, since it was heads and shoulders above the run of the mill nominees.

Season 3 starts off where season 2 left off with David Duchovney’s character all alone in Los Angels trying to keep an eye on his angst ridden teenage daughter by himself. Hank’s soul mate has left for The Big Apple and they are trying to keep a long distance romance afloat. Let me first say that this show is still the best comedy television has to offer, but cannot keep going around in circles, having Hank charm his way into every woman’s pants and feeling a little bit guilty about it in the morning. Hank, in need of employment, takes on the job of a professor at a local college. To say he takes his new profession kind of lightly would be a major overstatement, although the scenes in the classroom with him proctoring class may be the highlight of the first four episodes. I will not ruin the show by giving away the chaotic and usually quite laughable guffaws that Hank makes, but the show is a bit duller than it was the first two seasons. Hank used to have an acid tongue and make every cynical syllable that came from his mouth target his prey with a vengeance. It seems this season, instead of using insightful, yet scathing remarks; he creates statements full of vulgarities that his target does not really take to heart. The show is still full of insightful musings, but they do not come in the rapid succession that they did in the previous two seasons. Hank is getting a bit complacent. Single fatherhood may be dulling his vocabulary. Becca has turned into a handful, and no matter how vigilant Hank tries to be to keep her out of harms way, he is having some trouble controlling her. He cannot accept the fact that she is now in the middle of her teenage years and is no longer a child. The rest of the cast turns in great co-starring performances, up to their usual antics. Kathleen Turner turns up as Charlie’s boss, who is now working for her agency. She is another one of the highlights from season 3, the best work I have seen from her since her role as Serial Mom.

It is time for Hank to take a leap of faith and either embrace success and write the novel he is capable of, or let him fall into a deep despair and watch him climb out of it. Somehow, this show has to evolve into getting Hank into new situations, because the novelty of his charm, cynicism, and misogyny can only take it so far. The new Season starts Sunday night on Showtime.