In August Anchor Bay is releasing the two-disc Masters of Science Fiction DVD (MSRP $29.98), which includes six hour-long episodes written by leading science fiction writers and dramatized by top Hollywood talent such as John Hurt, Brian Dennehy, Judy Davis, James Cromwell, Malcolm McDowell, Anne Heche and Sean Astin to name just a few of the actors involved.  Physicist Stephen Hawking introduces the six episodes, which include an adaptation of Harlan Ellison’s 1959 short story “The Discarded” written by Ellison and the Oscar-nominated screenwriter (A History of Violence) Josh Olson.

Ellison, who wrote two of the best science fiction episodes that ever appeared on the small screen, “Demon With a Glass Hand” for the Outer Limits and “City on the Edge of Forever” for the original Star Trek, was pleased with the screenplay for “The Discarded,” which he told Home Media Retailing, will “probably be the last thing I write for television.”

ABC will air four of the six episodes included on the Masters of Science Fiction disc, which is a spin-off of sorts of the Masters of Horror series.  The business model for the Masters of Science Fiction series is based on recovering the cost of production through domestic DVD sales and then creating profits through the sale of international video and broadcasting rights as well as via domestic broadcasting.