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This DVD from the Lucille Ball Specials offers fans a double play of features from the red-headed siren. These features came after her series “Here’s Lucy.”

Fans of Dean Martin will enjoy Lucy Gets Lucky. Lucy heads out to Las Vegas to see her idol Dean Martin, but through a series of her usual mishaps, Lucy can’t get into the show. She finds out that Deano is doing a special show for employees and gets herself a job at the MGM Grand Casino. One thing after another sets her up in a series of situations with Dean.

In the second feature,  Three for Two pairs Lucy up with Jackie Gleason, the great one. This one features three pieces focused on couples. First Lucy and Jackie play a couple who take their first vacation since children and discover that things aren’t exactly what either of them thought they were.

Part two has the pair in a dark and secluded hideaway having a clandestine meeting without their significant others.

The final act has Jackie and Lucy dealing with impending empty nest syndrome as their grown children decide to break their family new years eve tradition and go out on their own.

This one reminds me of why some things are better left in the past.  Lucy Gets Lucky is humorous enough with Dean Martin hot-dogging as Lucy’s unsuspecting sidekick. He is his usual charming and debonair self, offering a bit of freshness to an episode that was not what a Lucille Ball fan hopes for.

Three for Two is just plain off. The first part is a couple bickering through the first night of their vacation. The second part is about a couple having an affair. And the third one is a mother and father making every attempt to control their children’s lives and loves. Not your feel good kind of television that most viewers would expect from the duo.

I am a huge fan of Lucille Ball, but I am pretty sure there is a reason why I didn’t watch these the first time around. The writing is sorely lacking and Lucille is past her prime and trying to rely on what made her famous. Unfortunately it just wasn’t funny and that makes it disappointing for fans—or at least this fan.

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