Actors Become Directors in ‘Edge’

Actors go behind the camera as directors, but the results are mostly cold and off-putting in “On the Edge” (8 p.m. Showtime), a made-for-cable trilogy featuring three short films set in the future.

Helen Mirren helms “Happy Birthday,” the bizarre, would-be comical tale of a resourceful entomology student (Sydney Tamiia Poitier) bounced from school just days before graduation. John Goodman, David Hyde Pierce, Beverly D’Angelo, Christopher Lloyd and Caroline Rhea appear in cameos.

Mary Stuart Masterson sets a serious tone on “The Other Side,” the dumb story of a smart scientist (Anthony LaPaglia) who clones himself because he’s dying of cancer. Bruce Davison and Karen Sillas co-star.

And Anne Heche directs the weak, weird “Reaching Normal,” which deals with a frustrated housewife (Andie MacDowell) who has a telepathic link with an enigmatic scientist (Paul Rudd). Alan Rosenberg and Joey Lauren Adams co-star, with Ellen DeGeneres appearing in a cameo as a telephone operator.

It isn’t likely viewers will seek the source material for these films, but just in case, we can tell you they are based on the stories “Placement Test,” “Lifeboat on a Burning Sea” and “Command Performance.”

* “On the Edge” can be seen tonight at 8 on Showtime. The network has rated it TV-14-DLSV (may be unsuitable for children under age 14, with advisories for suggestive dialogue, coarse language, sex and violence).