Season 3


 * Episode Count: 25


 * Previous Season: Season 2
 * Next Season: Season 4


 * Run: September 21, 2006 - May 17, 2007

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 9pm on ABC. The season consists of 25 episodes.

Plots

 * Izzie mourns over Denny, and is surprised when she discovers that he left her 8.7 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.
 * The attendings compete for the position of Chief of Surgery.
 * 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.
 * Susan Grey dies.
 * Adele has a miscarriage.
 * 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 (23/25) (as of Sometimes a Fantasy, one prior uncredited appearance)
 * Isaiah Washington as Dr. Preston Burke (25/25)
 * Patrick Dempsey as Dr. Derek Shepherd (25/25)

Special Guest Stars

 * Chris O'Donnell as Dr. Finn Dandridge (4/25)
 * Fred Ward as Dennison Duquette, Sr.
 * Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Denny Duquette, Jr. (3/25)
 * Kyle Chandler as Dylan Young (2/25)
 * 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)

Recurring Guest Stars

 * Loretta Devine as Adele Webber (4/25)
 * Sarah Utterback as Nurse Olivia Harper (4/25)
 * Steven W. Bailey as Joe (10/25)
 * Robin Pearson Rose as Patricia (2/25)
 * Kate Burton as Ellis Grey (6/25)
 * Diahann Carroll as Jane Burke (4/25)
 * George Dzundza as Harold O'Malley (6/25)
 * Kali Rocha as Dr. Sydney Heron (5/25)
 * Jack Yang as Walter (3/25)
 * Greg Pitts as Jerry O'Malley (4/25)
 * Tim Griffin as Ronny O'Malley (4/25)
 * Brooke Smith as Dr. Erica Hahn (2/25)
 * Debra Monk as Louise O'Malley (4/25)
 * Mandy Siegfried as Molly Thompson (2/25)
 * Mare Winningham as Susan Grey (5/25)
 * Jeff Perry as Thatcher Grey (6/25)
 * Mae Whitman as Heather Douglas (2/25)
 * Judith Hoag as Rhada Douglas (2/25)
 * Elizabeth Reaser as Rebecca Pope (11/25)
 * Dean Norris as Vince (2/25)
 * Kelly Wolf as Carly Height (2/25)
 * Paul Perri as Rick's Friend (2/25)
 * Anna Maria Horsford as Elizabeth Fallon (1/25)
 * Monica Keena as Bonnie Crasnoff (1/25)
 * Roger Rees as Dr. Colin Marlow (3/25)
 * Héctor Elizondo as Carlos Torres (1/25)
 * Mitch Pileggi as Larry Jennings (1/25)
 * Bellamy Young as Kathy (2/25)
 * Raphael Sbarge as Paul (2/25)
 * Stephanie Niznik as Carol (2/25)
 * Tsai Chin as Helen Rubenstein (2/25)
 * David Anders as Jim (2/25)
 * Becky Wahlstrom as Lisa (2/25)
 * Cameron Watson as Rick (2/25)
 * Gary Hershberger as Doug (2/25)
 * Aasha Davis as Rina (2/25)
 * Kevin Rankin as Jack Vaughan (2/25)
 * Brian Tee as Andy Meltzer (2/25)
 * Derek Phillips as Dale Winick (2/25)
 * Chyler Leigh as Dr. Lexie Grey (2/25)

Prominent Guest Stars

 * Embeth Davidtz as Dr. Nancy Shepherd
 * Shavon Kirksey as Maya Bennett
 * Parisa Fitz-Henley as Cami Davis
 * Jason London as Jeff Pope
 * Abigail Breslin as Megan Clover
 * Alexandra Billings as Donna Gibson

Recurring Co-Stars

 * Jeremy Rabb as Jeremy Bennett (2/25)
 * Wayne Lopez as Paramedic (1/25)
 * Moe Irvin as Tyler Christian (7/25)
 * Zibby Allen as Nurse Zibby (2/25)
 * Brooke Blanchard as Jill Hale (1/25)
 * Linda Eve Miller as Nurse Melanie (1/25)
 * Linda Klein as Nurse Linda (2/25)
 * Paula Weston Solano as Nurse (2/25)
 * Kate Anthony as Nurse Kate (5/25)
 * Patricia Bethune as Nurse Ginger (2/25)
 * Yvette Cruise as Nurse (2/25)
 * Martin Yu as Resident (2/25)
 * Jack Axelrod as Charlie Yost (2/25)
 * Ray Ford as Ray Sutera (1/25)
 * John O'Brien as Tech Jeffrey (1/25)
 * Elaine Kao as NICU Nurse (1/25)
 * Joyce Guy as Ms. Henry (1/25)
 * Maile Flanagan as Lab Tech (1/25)
 * Jeffrey Markle as Greg (2/25)
 * Billy Mayo as Rick (2/25)
 * Brian Chenoweth as Scared Guy (2/25)
 * Danielle Kennedy as Angry Woman (2/25)
 * Paul Norwood as Scared Guy #2 (2/25)
 * Madison Leisle as Lisa the Child (2/25)
 * Yvans Jourdain as Businessman (2/25)
 * Terrance Christopher Jones as Paramedic (1/25)
 * Nicole Cummins-Rubio as Paramedic Nicole Cummins (2/25)
 * Shenita Moore as Nurse (1/25)
 * Mac Brandt as Paramedic (1/25)
 * Tim Chiou as Paramedic (2/25)
 * Billy Wood as Perfusionist (1/25)
 * Rob Narita as Anesthesiologist (1/25)
 * Mary Joy as Voice (of Tilly) (2/25)
 * Garon Grigsby as Keith (2/25)
 * 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.
 * All main characters appear in every episode of the season, except for Mark Sloan. He doesn't appear in two episodes in the season, but he was only absent for one episode after he was added to the main cast.