reported by Lisa Cutler, FictionFanatic.com

The ABC Television Network has picked up IDT Entertainment's drama series MASTERS OF SCIENCE FICTION, which will feature works from some of the most well known authors of science fiction.

Negotiations are underway to include works from Isaac Asimov (author of "I Robot" and "Nightfall"), Ray Bradbury ("The Martian Chronicles," "Fahrenheit 451"), Harlan Ellison ("A Boy and His Dog," "Jeffty is Five"), and Robert Heinlein ("The Puppet Masters," "Stranger in a Strange Land"). IDT Entertainment, in association with Industry Entertainment, will produce a minimum of six one-hour episodes of the series. IDT Entertainment is a subsidiary of IDT Corporation (NYSE:IDT, IDT.C) an international telecom, entertainment, and technology company.

Writer Michael Tolkin ("The Rapture," "The Player") will adapt and direct one episode. Discussions are underway to feature such works as "The Discarded" by Harlan Ellison, "The Last Question" by Isaac Asimov, and for Ray Bradbury to adapt his own "Dark They Were, And Golden-Eyed."

Production on the series will begin this May in Vancouver. IDT Entertainment will handle worldwide sales and home entertainment distribution of MASTERS OF SCIENCE FICTION.

Morris Berger, Steve Brown and John Hyde are executive producers for IDT Entertainment. Industry Entertainment's Keith Addis, Brad Mendelsohn, and Andrew Deane are executive producers and Ben Browning and Adam Goldworm are co-producers.