On the Edge

Here's a one-off, or rather three-off: a trio of sci-fi short stories, each directed by a leading actress. Mirren's 'Happy Birthday' (ex-Keith Laumer) is the most flamboyant, an ironic winning-through parable, with Poitier prevailing in an over-populated futuristic hell. 'The Other Side' (ex-Bruce Holland Rogers) is Masterson's adaptation of a yarn about technology gone awry: a dying scientist hopes to live on via his clone, but the clone has other plans. Heche's 'Reaching Normal' (ex-Walter M Miller) suffers most from the compulsory brevity: its complicated plot, involving psychic twinning, cries out for more leisurely development. Memel directed the wraparound bits and produced (for cable and on a frugal budget) this intriguing if only fitfully satisfying package.