Plot Synopsis

Each week for six weeks, host Professor Stephen Hawking introduces a one-hour, science-fiction film adapted from the works of Harlan Ellison, Howard Fast, Robert Heinlein, John Kessel, Walter Mosley or Robert Sheckley. Plus, preeminent writers and directors offer their interpretations of each movie. Films include: "Watchbird," in which stainless steel robot eagles with the kill capability of stealth bombers are all connected to the brain of one person; "A Clean Escape," which tells the story of one man locked in an endless loop -- in his mind, it is always a lovely spring day; "The Awakening," about a ferocious firefight outside of Baghdad, where US soldiers discover a mysterious body -- one that they can't even identify as human; "The Discarded," during which hundred of humans are cast into space by their horrified fellows -- because they are hideously deformed by a blood disease; "Jerry Was a Man," which focuses on Mr. and Mrs. Bronson Van Vogel, the seventh-richest couple in the world, who use anthropoids to do their chores and work; and "Little Brother," about one woman who escapes from underground captivity to challenge the automated justice system present in her strange world.