Give the new NBC sitcom "Built to Last" a few points for portraying a nice, loving and supportive family.
Deduct a few points because it's such a by-the-numbers, unoriginal and uninspired program."Built to Last" (tonight at 7:30 on Ch. 5) is built around standup comedian Royale Watkins (now there's an original idea) and based very loosely on his life. He plays a character cleverly titled Royale Watkins, the third of five children in a close-knit Washington, D.C., family.
Royale is headed for the West Coast to begin a career as a computer whiz when his father (Paul Winfield) suffers a heart attack. So Royale is left with a choice - let the family construction business be sold or take it over himself.
Guess which one he chooses.
"Built to Last" is not without some charm. The interaction between family members is nice, and Winfield and Denise Dowse are very good as the irrascible father and even more irrascible mother.
But the show falls into the sitcom trap of relying far too heavily on a cute youngster - in this case 7-year-old Jeremy Suarez. (He played the son of Cuba Gooding Jr. in "Jerry Maguire.) Nothing is cheaper, easier and ultimately less funny than having a young kid speak lines that should only be coming out of the mouths of adults.
What television does not need is another smart-mouth kid masquerading as grownup.
And, while it's been toned down considerably from the original pilot, there is still a scene that parents of young children will want to be cautious about. In the midst of this half hour that's fully of huggy moments and treacly fluff like something out of "Full House," Royale's brother whips out a condom and suggests that Royale use it during his date.
In the end, "Built to Last" is trying to be "The Cosby Show" by way of "Family Matters." It comes a lot closer to the latter than it does to the former.