Starman

The Starman. He has landed face down - his 1,500-pound bronze countenance serene, his 27-foot metal contrail flowing behind. Earthlings formally greeted him yesterday, some with smiles and toasts of champagne and Perrier water, others with knitted brows, shaking heads and soft pretzels with mustard. Welcome to Philadelphia, Starman. The visitor, officially called Starman in an Ancient Garden, is the city's latest work of public sculpture. It was dedicated yesterday outside the Parkway Corp.

The two leading horses in the seven-event Open Jumper Championship at the 93d Devon Horse Show didn't score any points last night in the Open Jumper Stake, and that presented the third-place horse with an opportunity to pass them. But the third horse, Starman, failed to take advantage, and Webster and The Frisco Kid finished in a tie for first in the Open Jumper Championship. Despite the problems that Debbie Shaffner of Ambler had aboard The Frisco Kid last night in the Open Jumper Stake, the final event of the nine-day show, she did win the Leading Open Jumper Rider title with 23 1/2 points.

The last weekend before the official opening of the new television season on Monday is crowded with early premieres. But if you're planning a non- electronic weekend in the country, there's nothing you should greatly regret missing. Starman, based on the popular 1984 movie of the same name, will debut at 9 tonight on ABC (Channel 6). It self-destructs with some of the worst acting ever seen in any series premiere. The Ellen Burstyn Show stars the actress of the same name as a college writing teacher in Baltimore.

'My mind's been acting kind of weird lately," a worried Sam Bell says to his constant, and only, companion, a robot named Gerty 3000. The sole crew member of a lunar base where helium 3 is being mined for an energy-starved Earth, Sam - a virtuoso turn from Sam Rockwell - is pretty much the only character in Moon , an eerie near-future tale from filmmaker Duncan Jones. In his beard and baseball cap, working the control panels, doing his exercises, watering the plants - and occasionally taking a rover out across the cratered terrain to check a "live one" in the mines - Sam is nearing the end of his three-year tour of duty for Lunar Industries.

Tonight is a fine night for TV, and the good stuff starts earlier than usual. EVENING HIGHLIGHTS MARTIN LUTHER KING: THE DREAM & THE DRUM (7 p.m., Ch. 12) - Airing on Dr. King's birthday, this special, produced by Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, takes a truly special approach. Footage of his speeches is included, but most of the program is devoted to the works of artists, politicians and public speakers. Some long predated Dr. King, some disagree with his vision, but all of their works in tonight's program address that vision in some fashion.

Arrangeur - with Debbie Dolan aboard - conquered a sloppy Dixon Oval and a 14-horse field in a timed jump-off to capture the $50,000 Grand Prix at the 95th Devon Horse Show last night. The Dutch-bred winner cleanly completed the eight-jump course in 33.69 seconds in the second-largest jump-off field in Devon Grand Prix history to beat out second-place Starman with Anne Kursinski riding. Starman, who immediately preceded Arrangeur in the jump-off, finished his clean round in 34.25.

Alien versus Predator versus Viking. That's a lot of versuses, and they account for only a sliver of the action in the wigged-out "Outlander," which dips lustily into "Beowulf" and "Starman" and "The Thirteenth Warrior" and about a dozen other titles. Is there a single element that could plausibly link all of these various movies and disparate genres? As it happens, yes. Extreme violence. "Outlander" tries to observe the most important rule of cinema - no movie that features a character named Rothgar (or Ragnar)

Just-What-We-Need-Another-Late-Night-Talk-Show Dept.: Believe it or not, the diminutive Dick Cavett is returning to ABC, the network that brought us The Dick Cavett Show way back in those glorious '70s. With his USA Network interviews still in reruns, the seasoned interlocutor will be given his old show back, come September, and it will follow Ted Koppel's Nightline each Friday. (The one-hour talkfest may be given more nights if it proves successful in the ratings.) ABC has granted Cavett a 13-week tryout with the option to keep him for years - and years.

If Little Women had been written today, Marmee might overhear this conversation: "Christmas won't be Christmas without VCR," grumbles Jo, lying on the rug. "It's so dreadful to be video-deprived," sighs Meg, looking down at the old 12-inch black-and-white console. "I don't think it's fair for some girls to have plenty of pretty videotapes, and other girls nothing at all," adds little Amy, with an injured sniff. "We've got Father, Mother and each other," says Beth contentedly, from her corner.

'My mind's been acting kind of weird lately," a worried Sam Bell says to his constant, and only, companion, a robot named Gerty 3000. The sole crew member of a lunar base where helium 3 is being mined for an energy-starved Earth, Sam - a virtuoso turn from Sam Rockwell - is pretty much the only character in Moon , an eerie near-future tale from filmmaker Duncan Jones. In his beard and baseball cap, working the control panels, doing his exercises, watering the plants - and occasionally taking a rover out across the cratered terrain to check a "live one" in the mines - Sam is nearing the end of his three-year tour of duty for Lunar Industries.

Alien versus Predator versus Viking. That's a lot of versuses, and they account for only a sliver of the action in the wigged-out "Outlander," which dips lustily into "Beowulf" and "Starman" and "The Thirteenth Warrior" and about a dozen other titles. Is there a single element that could plausibly link all of these various movies and disparate genres? As it happens, yes. Extreme violence. "Outlander" tries to observe the most important rule of cinema - no movie that features a character named Rothgar (or Ragnar)

K-Pax gives us Jeff Bridges, not so long ago a studly alien, as a psychiatrist treating Kevin Spacey, who's either delusional or from a planet 1,000 light years away. In the cosmic continuum of movie sci-fi, K-Pax is the one where Starman shrinks Spaceman. Expect no special effects in this character study of two alienated guys whose encounter suggests the possibility of real emotional connection, whether that be between humans or between human and alien. Rather than parapsychological spectacle, K-Pax purveys psychological drama.

Arrangeur - with Debbie Dolan aboard - conquered a sloppy Dixon Oval and a 14-horse field in a timed jump-off to capture the $50,000 Grand Prix at the 95th Devon Horse Show last night. The Dutch-bred winner cleanly completed the eight-jump course in 33.69 seconds in the second-largest jump-off field in Devon Grand Prix history to beat out second-place Starman with Anne Kursinski riding. Starman, who immediately preceded Arrangeur in the jump-off, finished his clean round in 34.25.

The Starman. He has landed face down - his 1,500-pound bronze countenance serene, his 27-foot metal contrail flowing behind. Earthlings formally greeted him yesterday, some with smiles and toasts of champagne and Perrier water, others with knitted brows, shaking heads and soft pretzels with mustard. Welcome to Philadelphia, Starman. The visitor, officially called Starman in an Ancient Garden, is the city's latest work of public sculpture. It was dedicated yesterday outside the Parkway Corp.

The two leading horses in the seven-event Open Jumper Championship at the 93d Devon Horse Show didn't score any points last night in the Open Jumper Stake, and that presented the third-place horse with an opportunity to pass them. But the third horse, Starman, failed to take advantage, and Webster and The Frisco Kid finished in a tie for first in the Open Jumper Championship. Despite the problems that Debbie Shaffner of Ambler had aboard The Frisco Kid last night in the Open Jumper Stake, the final event of the nine-day show, she did win the Leading Open Jumper Rider title with 23 1/2 points.

Several people in Jack Sholder's The Hidden have a lump in the throat. But when the lump emerges from hiding, we know that it has nothing to do with emotion. Without undermining the considerable shock value of what comes out of their mouths, it's safe to suggest that you'd better not have any escargots for dinner before sampling this surprisingly well-turned sci-fi thriller. I say surprising because Sholder's main claim to infamy is Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge - a resounding commercial success notable for a great deal of pointless gore-slinging.

Brower Hatcher is one of several artists being considered for a public art commission for Walnut Towers, a mixed residential-commercial building being constructed at Ninth and Walnut Streets by Parkway Corp. and Historic Landmarks for Living. Hatcher's proposal calls for a garden centered on a gigantic classical head that would appear, structurally and metaphorically, to be a comet. A latticelike, 28-foot-long "star trail" would stream from the rear of the head, creating, in the artist's words, "an allegory of past, present and future.

If Little Women had been written today, Marmee might overhear this conversation: "Christmas won't be Christmas without VCR," grumbles Jo, lying on the rug. "It's so dreadful to be video-deprived," sighs Meg, looking down at the old 12-inch black-and-white console. "I don't think it's fair for some girls to have plenty of pretty videotapes, and other girls nothing at all," adds little Amy, with an injured sniff. "We've got Father, Mother and each other," says Beth contentedly, from her corner.

The last weekend before the official opening of the new television season on Monday is crowded with early premieres. But if you're planning a non- electronic weekend in the country, there's nothing you should greatly regret missing. Starman, based on the popular 1984 movie of the same name, will debut at 9 tonight on ABC (Channel 6). It self-destructs with some of the worst acting ever seen in any series premiere. The Ellen Burstyn Show stars the actress of the same name as a college writing teacher in Baltimore.