FROM `PACK' TO HACK; `FRANK, DEAN AND SAMMY' A NUGGET WORTH SAVORING; NO CHEERS FOR `KELLY'.

Byline: Keith Marder Daily News Television Critic

It was a time of booze, bands and broads, a time when boys would be boys.

The Beatles may have been invading America in 1965, but Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. - a k a the Rat Pack - were still enough of a draw to captivate an audience or two.

The legendary performing troupe that all but built Las Vegas certainly could pack a house, and did when the trio got together for a concert to benefit a halfway house for ex-convicts in St. Louis.

Now, nearly 35 years later, the concert is a benefit for people whose cable system carries Nick at Nite's TV Land.

``Frank, Dean and Sammy: An Evening With the Rat Pack,'' a condensed version of the 1965 event, will run on TV Land at 8 tonight.

Smoking and drinking were considered cool, and it was a hep cat who wore a pinky ring or a white dinner jacket for an evening's concert. No one had the answers to the political correctness quiz.

For instance, Dean Martin, who was able to smoke, drink and sing at the same time, picked up fellow performer Sammy Davis Jr., a slight African-American man, and thanked the NAACP for the trophy.

Don't get angry; cherish it as a day gone by and then enjoy one of the most entertaining television specials you'll find starring some of the most charismatic, dulcet-toned performers in history.

Martin sings songs such as ``Volare'' and ``Evening in Roma.'' Davis, who jokes that he is black, Jewish and Puerto Rican and can clear a neighborhood, sings and dances such numbers as ``This Will Be My Shining Hour'' and ``One for the Road.'' And Sinatra headlines with classic numbers, including ``Fly Me to the Moon,'' ``I've Got You Under My Skin'' and ``Luck Be a Lady.''

The finale brings all of the men, plus emcee Johnny Carson, on stage. Carson, then in his third year of hosting ``The Tonight Show,'' was a last-minute replacement for Joey Bishop, who was recovering from a back injury.

Carson, who apparently worked through the nerves he had at the beginning of the concert, turned the trio into a quartet by helping sing ``Birth of the Blues.''

As if you needed it, that alone is reason enough to watch.

``Kelly Kelly''

With the exception of Kelsey Grammer, who is playing the same character as he did in the Boston bar, the stars of ``Cheers'' have not done well in their television returns.

Ted Danson - canceled. Rhea Perlman - canceled. George Wendt - canceled. Kirstie Alley - we won't know until her show leaves the cushiest spot on the TV schedule. Woody Harrelson - in the movies.

This brings us to Shelley Long's new show, ``Kelly Kelly,'' which debuts on the WB Network (Channel 5) at 9 tonight.

The ``Cheers'' curse continues.

To give you a taste of the level of humor in ``Kelly Kelly,'' Long plays an Ivy League educator named Kelly Novak, who literally drops into the arms of blue-collar firefighter Doug Kelly (Robert Hays). They meet, fall in love and get married. She becomes Kelly Kelly, one half of a mismatch made in hell.

Hays, best-known from the movie ``Airplane!'' does a fine job as a level-headed yet spoiling father. But that doesn't even put a dent in the problems in this cliche-crazy, laugh-light half-hour of television.

The neatly tailored Long moves into Doug's house, which is more of a frat house than a place you'd expect to find a man and his four kids. To get from the second floor to the first, they slide down a fire pole, and sports memorabilia hangs from the ceiling.

And, the worst part is when we have to endure Long's erudite character trying to fit in (don't worry - it shouldn't be for long). In one scene, she plays in a family football game, wearing a business suit, and gets trampled. In another, she gets into a fistfight with a mean mother who is making fun of one of the children - again she's overdressed.

Move over, Ted and Rhea and George, we need a little room on the TV scrap heap.

THE FACTS

The show: ``Frank, Dean and Sammy: An Evening With the Rat Pack.''

What: The only known recorded concert featuring the legendary Rat Pack - Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. - plus special guest Johnny Carson.

Where: Nick at Nite's TVLand.

When: 8 tonight.

Our rating: Four Stars.

The show: ``Kelly Kelly.''

What: Two 40-something newlyweds try to combine her rarefied, cosmopolitan sensibilities with his four kids and blue-collar lifestyle.

The stars: Shelley Long, Robert Hays, Will Estes, Ashley Johnson, Bug Hall, Gemini Barnett.

Where: The WB (KTLA, Channel 5)

When: Premieres 9 tonight.

Our rating: Half Star.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: ``Frank, Dean and Sammy: An Evening With the Rat Pack,'' a condensed version of a 1965 benefit concert with Dean Martin, left, Sammy Davis Jr. and Frank Sinatra, will run on TV Land at 8 tonight.