CBS Stars don't shine in 'Center of the Universe'

The supporting characters just aren't funny.
By DAVE MASON
SCRIPPS HOWARD
"Center of the Universe" begins with a good journey but gets sidetracked by bad jokes and plot twists as it fails the "Beverly Hillbillies"/"Bob Newhart Show" test of comedy.
That's the formula of surrounding a sane character, or in this case a sane couple, with wacky supporting characters. But in "Center of the Universe," they're not wacky enough to be funny.
The sitcom, premiering at 9:30 tonight on CBS, proves that a stellar cast isn't enough.
Stars John Goodman, Jean Smart, Ed Asner, Olympia Dukakis, Diedrich Bader, Melinda McGraw and Spencer Breslin do their best, but it's not enough for a show that needs some rewriting.
At least "Center" starts well.
The first minutes establish Goodman and Smart as John and Kate Barnett, who are a rarity in the sitcom world: a happily married couple deeply in love.
That alone sets up an intriguing premise and the promise of what should be a great sitcom.
Plot
The plot is a good one: After a long marriage, John and Kate want to renew their vows. Goodman and Smart effortlessly make their characters genuine.
Enter Asner and Dukakis, and they have a good grasp of their characters, Art and Marge Barnett, John's parents.
Bader adds a good touch as Tommy, John's irresponsible brother and an employee at a security company.
Breslin is fine as Miles, John and Kate's young son, who's embracing his Scottish heritage with jackets sporting the family crest.
So far, so good. But "Center" takes a fall with jokes and plot twists that prove to be distractions.
Marge is unhappy with Art, and John's sister Lily (McGraw) is unhappy because she can't find the right man. That's an ancient plot in sitcom history.
The supporting characters are crazy, but not crazy enough to be funny.
If a sitcom is going to take the approach of surrounding one or two sane characters with a wacky cast, which is less novel today than it was, it has to go to extremes.
What's worse, the jokes in "Center" won't put any viewer in danger of an extreme belly laugh.
Right approach
The right approach for "Center of the Universe" aired in the first few minutes, when Goodman and Smart are playing real people with genuine emotions. The humor could come naturally from them coping with problems and situations.
Goodman and Smart could carry this show, and the talented Asner and Dukakis could provide good support if the writers didn't have them say bad jokes and put them in contrived situations.
At a news conference this summer in Los Angeles, Asner made the critics laugh.
He doesn't need a script to be funny. He certainly doesn't need bad jokes.
And it seems inconsistent that John and Kate, two parents who are so secure in their own relationship, are worried that their son Miles is different from other kids.
They're afraid he'll be teased, and they obviously would like him to become more like other kids to avoid that fate.
There's not much humor with this plot point, and on a dramatic scale, it would make more sense for John and Kate to encourage Miles' individuality and help him be confident in a world that might not accept him.
That's more consistent with the promising characters that the talented Goodman and Smart create in the opening minutes.