DATE: Friday, September 19, 1997            TAG: 9709180138

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LARRY BONKO, TELEVISION COLUMNIST

                                            LENGTH:   29 lines

TONIGHT'S TV PREMIERE ``THE VISITOR''

``The Visitor''

Network, time: Fox, 8 p.m. Fridays.

Cast: John Corbett, Steve Railsback, Grand L. Bush, Leon Rippy and John Storey.

Concept: A young pilot who disappeared over the Bermuda Triangle returns 50 years later when his spacecraft crashes in Utah. He hasn't aged a day, but his beard needs trimming. He's come back with neat talents such as using bark and leaves to heal gaping wounds and a philosophy that Ghandi would love - all life is connected.

Mini-review: Corbett, in his first series since ``Northern Exposure,'' is part David Janssen (``The Fugitive''), part Jeff Bridges (``Starman'') in a routine sci-fi drama. After this drop-in from who knows where crash lands, the military and government agents pursue him. Don't they always in sci-fi plots? Best twist here is Corbett, as Adam MacArthur, learning about TV, dialing 911, home computers and other things we modern earthlings take for granted in the 1990s. The microwave dazzles him. There's nothing here you haven't seen before. Two stars (of a possible five) ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

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