TV Reviews : HBO Takes Risk With Anthology; No Sharp ‘Edge’ Here

Cable’s HBO didn’t become television’s boldest entertainment network by playing it safe. So mark down “The Edge” as well-intended chance-taking gone awry.

Premiering at 10 tonight, the three-episode anthology series strives for a “Blue Velvet”-like kinkiness, mystique and dark tone, but ends up being only unredeemingly gory and pretentious, beginning with words from someone titled “The Watcher” that melodramatically introduce each story:

“We think we are safe . . . we are not. We think there is order . . . there is not.” Oh, please.

The opening half hour is a tale about a small-time hood (Brad Davis) driven by revenge after his boss and wife get him an eight-year prison sentence by setting him up to take the rap for an armed robbery. Even viewed as parody, Carl Schenkel’s direction seems intrusively stylish and gratuitous, and Alan Sharp’s story is weak and predictable.

Another heavy gets his due in next Wednesday’s ugly second episode about a sadistic small-town sheriff (Rutger Hauer) ultimately done in by his obsession with cheating at cards. The third episode, about a zombiesque contract killer forced to choose between his profession and his girl, is by far the most arresting, but is abrasive and ultimately as pointless as the other two.

We think this is entertainment . . . it is not.