The Lucille Ball Specials: Lucy Gets Lucky/Three for Two

This is the first Double DVD of The Lucille Ball Specials. I contacted MPI Home Video to find out if they are putting more of The Lucille Ball Specials on dvd, besides this one, and they said YES! Lucille Ball had 11 television specials between 1964 and 1980. I will briefly list them, for those who want to know, but MPI did not say which of the specials they are putting out on future dvd's, but I am hoping all of them! The specials are: 1.Mr.& Mrs.(w/Bob Hope)1964, 2.Lucy in London (w/Anthony Newley)1966, 3.Carol+2 (w/Carol Burnett) 1967, 4.Happy Anniversary and Goodbye (w/Art Carney) 1974, 5. Dean Martin's Celebrity Roast-Lucille Ball (w/dozens of stars) 1975, 6. Lucy Gets Lucky (w/Dean Martin) 1975, 7. Three for Two (w/Jackie Gleason) 1975, 8. What now Catherine Curtis? (w/Art Carney) 1976, 9. Lucy Calls the President (w/Vivian Vance and Gale Gordon) 1977, 10. Lucy Comes to Nashville (w/Barbara Mandrell) 1978 and 11. Lucy moves to NBC (w/ Bob Hope, Johnny Carson and many others) 1980.This dvd features two of Lucy's television specials. The first being LUCY GETS LUCKY, which premiered on March 1, 1975. This special was filmed on location at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. Lucy plays Lucy Collins, a huge fan of Dean Martin, who is determined to see Dean in person, even though his concert is completely sold out. When Lucy finds out Dean is doing a private performance at the MGM just for the employees, she naturally gets herself hired there and the trouble begins. The fun starts, when Dean has to save the hotel and Las Vegas from disaster! This special is one hour long and also guest stars her husband Gary Morton, Jackie Coogan along with many others.The second television special of Lucy's on this dvd set is THREE FOR TWO, which premiered on December 3, 1975. This special is a comedy/drama which features Lucy and Jackie Gleason playing three different couples in 3 different crisis stories. The first story is about Herb and Sally, who go off to Rome on a vacation to reignite their love life. While in Rome, they discover things they never knew about each other, after 24 years of marriage. The second story is about Fred and Rita, who try to decide if they should tell about both their infidelities. The last story is about Mike and Pauline, who are in a Christmas family crisis, when they realize their children are growing up and no longer want them to dominate everything in their personal lives.This special is also one hour long, and according to MPI, they will include the following BONUS FEATURES:Let's Talk To Lucy-2 Long lost radio interviews with Dean Martin from 1964 and 1965 (Lucy and Dean have great conversations including talking about their young sons being together in the "Dino, Desi and Billy" band)BloopersFeaturette with guest actor Gino Conforti (he played Antonio in LUCY GETS LUCKY)Rare Lucy Footage (includes Lucy's appearance when she was a guest on Art Linkletter's House Party in 1965!)MPI also assured me that the film quality will be perfect, as they are making the dvd's from the original films, just as they did on the earlier released this year, Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie. They did a gorgeous, pristine job on this dvd, so I am very excited about this new series of The Lucille Ball Specials! These Lucille Ball Specials are so very rare, as I haven't seen any of them since they premiered on television, way back in the sixties and seventies! I can't wait for the future releases, and I hope MPI has the rights to do all of them! They were all owned by CBS, except for the last special, when Lucy literally broke her CBS contract and went to NBC. The Lucy In London was actually filmed on locaton in London, and I remember The Dave Clark 5 singing, along with all the mod stuff from 1966, so I hope the wait is short for the releases of all these great Lucille Ball Specials, so I can stop remembering and actually see them again!

This is a very special summer for Lucy fans. We are getting THE LUCY SOW and HERE'S LUCY both with their 1st season on dvd. But make sure to not bypass this excellent dvd that contains two specials Lucy did after HERE'S LUCY was off the air. Lucy did many specials of varying quality and even if these two aren't your favorite they are presented here in remastered brilliance and it is awesome to see the master at work in different material.LUCY GETS LUCKY costars Dean Martin and runs like a long Lucy episode. It has some hilarious moments. The one very noticable thing is no laugh track. THREE FOR TWO teams Lucy with the great Jackie Gleason and interestingly at the time she chose to make this special a trio of drama vignettes and not comedy. They are not the best vehicles for the drama side of Lucy whe know is there but the special is very enjoyable and a mustt have for any true Lucy fans collection.Even if you love both these specials, this dvd is a must buy just for the extras. It is overflowing with never before released material. Lucy at one time had a radio talk show and there are 2 episodes with guest Dean Martin. There is a lengthy interview with Gino Conforti, a frequent Lucy guest star with a long history with the comedy queen. He offers much insight into her as a person and as a professional. There is also rare footage and bloopers. Lucy fans will be thrilled with all this material.I am thrilled with this dvd and thrilled to have these specials in my collection. I am greatly anticipating release of the others. Highly recommend this dvd.

MPI's release of "Lucy Gets Lucky" and "Three For Two" is a great treat. Both of these specials bring back a lot of memories. Of the two specials "Lucy Gets Lucky" is much more enjoyable. It kind of reminds me of an hour long Here's Lucy episode. The bonus features on this DVD are a must for any Lucy fan. I especially enjoyed Lucy's radio series "Let's Talk to Lucy" from the 1960's. Someone at CBS should release all episodes of this talk treat radio series. It was a real treat listening to Lucy interview Dean Martin. I look forward to the next four Lucy specials ("Happy Anniversary & Goodbye," "What Now, Catherine Curtis," "Lucy Calls The President," and "Lucy Moves to NBC") that MPI plans to release in the coming months. Too bad that the 1964 Lucille Ball Comedy Special "Mr. and Mrs." and 1967 special "Lucy In London" are owned by CBS. I would love for these two specials to be released in a boxed set.

Let me first say that I LOVE LUCY and have since I was old enough to watch tv. I grew up watching her shows, I own I LOVE LUCY the entire series as well as HERES LUCY boxed set and the first season of THE LUCY SHOW. I am glad I bought these specials but I am sorry to say they are not Lucy at her best by any means. The first special with Dean Martin was pretty good. I did enjoy it.That being said, THREE FOR TWO with Jackie Gleason was certainly another story. I am also a fan of Gleasons, I have all the sets of the HONEY MOONERS and watch them all the time, check out the color episodes now availible from MPI, they are very funny. this special is almost unwatchable,something I thought I would never say about these two major talents. I can not imagine what they where thinking didn't anyone read the script??? I understand they were going for something different. Lucille was'nt playing LUCY and I respect that, but if it was not for my admiration of the talent involved I never would have finished this program, yes it was that bad.the set does have some great extras though,and it is worth the price for the Dean Martin special alone

As a Lucille Ball fan, it's always great to see her take on new projects as she did attempt to do during the 1970's, but these two shows were not her greatest by any means. Truth be told, Lucy was too old for the parts she was trying to play in these shows, most notably in "Three For Two." Also in "Three For Two," the acting by some of the other actors was HORRIBLE at best!

The Queen of Comedy's specials are coming out on dvd, and while the Dean Martin one is better than the Jackie Gleason one, i would watch her reading the phone book so i don't care. Her other two series besides I Love Lucy are also out now on DVD, The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy so these specials with their special features included are a Lucy fan's treat. Get all of these and enjoy the First Lady of Television and you will not be disappointed as this beloved icon goes from one zany situation to another. The best female clown the world has ever known is finally coming out on dvd, in something besides I Love Lucy, so . . . ENJOY!

Not what I expected.