The creators of anthology series "Masters of Science Fiction" revealed the program was always meant to be a gamble of sorts, which they and ABC will soon see will either pay off or go bust when it premieres Aug. 4.

The hour-long show, narrated by famous Cambridge University physicist Dr. Stephen Hawking, tells classic sci-fi tales by famed writers such as Robert Heinlein and Harlan Ellison, and features notable actors such as Anne Heche, Malcolm McDowell ("Star Trek: Generations"), John Hurt, Brian Dennehy ("Cocoon"), Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings trilogy), Terry O'Quinn ("Lost") and Sam Waterston. Directors include two Academy Award nominees, Mark Rydell and Michael Petroni, as well as Jonathan Frakes, best known to genre audiences as Cmdr. William T. Riker in "Star Trek: The Next Generation."

Collectively, the creators read 400 science-fiction short stories before settling on six "that were incredibly entertaining and about incredibly powerful ideas that we could do on our limited budget and schedule," Keith Addis, co-executive producer of "Masters of Science Fiction" and its sister program on Showtime, "Masters of Horror," told Airlock Alpha's Charles Q. Choi.

The first episode, "A Clean Escape," is directed by Mark Rydell off a story originally written by John Kessel, and concerns a psychiatrist (Judy Davis) interrogating a confused man (Sam Waterston) who appears to suffer from a lapse of memory -- but why?

The second episode, "The Awakening," stars Terry O'Quinn and Elisabeth Rohm and is directed by Michael Petroni off a story originally written by Hollywood blacklist author Howard Fast. It opens with a firefight outside Baghdad, where U.S. soldiers discover a mysterious casualty -- one they can't even identify as human.

The third episode, "Jerry Was A Man," starring Malcolm McDowell and Anne Heche and directed by Michael Tolkin off a story originally written by Robert Heinlein, is a satirical take on what it means to be human.

The fourth episode, "The Discarded," starring Brian Dennehy and John Hurt, was directed by Jonathan Frakes off a story originally written by Harlan Ellison, that is about despised minorities sentenced to drift in the darkness of outer space forever.

The fifth episode, "Little Brother," directed by Darnell Martin off a story written and adapted for the screen by acclaimed crime author Walter Mosley, has to deal with automated justice in a miserable subterranean slum of the future. "It's not an accidental reference to 'Big Brother' in the Orwellian sense," Addis said.

The sixth episode, "Watchbird," starring Sean Astin and James Cromwell and directed by Harold Becker off a story originally written by Robert Sheckley, explores how robots designed for killing on the battlefield can have unintended uses -- and consequences.

There were a number of stories producers struggled to include, such as Isaac Asimov's "The Last Question," wherein an increasingly powerful computer deals with the death of the universe. Addis recalled that John Milius of "Apocalypse Now" and "Conan The Barbarian" fame was incredibly passionate about "The Last Question," "as were we all, but to render it with any integrity would have cost far more than what we had."

Some of the episodes required significant additional material, based as they were on short stories only a few pages long, while others needed updates to contemporary geopolitics. Still, Walter Mosley's story was a literal adaptation, as was Harlan Ellison's -- "even if we wanted to modify it, Harlan wouldn't let us," Addis said.

Indeed, the challenges of literal adaptations spurred the creators to seek a narrator for the series.

One story they considered, Ray Bradbury's "Dark They Were, And Golden-Eyed," was set in a Mars of the 1940s, one with breathable air and arable land. "We would've had Mr. Hawking explain that what you were about to see was Ray Bradbury's elegant and beautiful vision of Mars, and not made any effort to modernize it at all," Addis said. "A narrator would help provide context for some stories, or tell you to drop your conventional expectations and just go with what you were about to see. And so many great anthology series had hosts—just think of 'The Twilight Zone,' or 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents.' It was unbelievably great to find that Stephen Hawking was interested in helping us."

"Masters of Science Fiction" was always envisioned as a Saturday 10 p.m. show, Addis explained, "experimenting that maybe that time would turn out to be an interesting place for people looking for something cool when there's not a lot of choice." ABC had been looking for a show in that timeslot "and didn't want to spend primetime dollars," Addis said. "Our business model, going back to 'Masters of Horror,' was to create a primetime quality show for them at a fraction of what they'd normally pay."

Post-production for the show finished last December. It was held until late in the summer in part "because there's so little competition out there then, it could help it get more attention," Addis said.

Each episode cost roughly $2 million to $3 million. "What we found completely to our delight was that actors came onboard these projects for considerably less money and even though the episodes had not been aired or reviewed because they were attracted to the material and power of these stories," Addis said.

ABC has scheduled four of the six episodes to air, with ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson reportedly saying the show was "a little bit problematic." Whether it will air the rest -- or more -- will depends on reviews and ratings.

"Masters of Science Fiction" makes its debut Saturday at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.

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