''Life Unexpected'' is an American

teen drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

television series that aired for two seasons from January 18, 2010 to January 18, 2011. It was produced by Best Day Ever Productions and Mojo Films in association with

CBS Productions CBS Productions, Inc. was a production arm of the CBS television network (an initialism of Columbia Broadcasting System, along with its parent company CBS Television Studios, Inc.; the radio network was founded in 1927), now a part of Paramount Gl ...

and Warner Bros. Television and broadcast by

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

. Created by Liz Tigelaar, who served as an executive producer with

Gary Fleder Gary Fleder (; born December 19, 1965) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. His most recently completed film, '' Homefront,'' was released by Open Road Films and Millennium Films in November 2013. In recent years he has bee ...

and

Janet Leahy Janet Leahy is an American television executive producer and writer, whose name is often associated with prestige television. She has worked in both capacities on the AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' and won a WGA Award for her work on the show. Biogra ...

, the series stars Britt Robertson,

Shiri Appleby Shiri Freda Appleby (born December 7, 1978) is an American actress and television director. She is best known for her leading roles as Liz Parker in the WB/UPN science fiction drama series '' Roswell'' (1999–2002) and Rachel Goldberg in the L ...

Kristoffer Polaha Kristoffer Polaha is an American actor and author. He is known for his starring roles on television as Jason Matthews in '' North Shore'', Nathaniel "Baze" Bazile in ''Life Unexpected'', and Henry Butler in '' Ringer''. He has also appeared in ...

, and Kerr Smith. Set in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, the story follows Lux Cassidy, a teenager who was given up at birth and has spent her life in foster care who finds her biological parents, Nate Bazile and Cate Cassidy. Wishing to become emancipated, Lux is instead given in to their custody. While ''Life Unexpected'' received mostly positive reviews, it struggled in the ratings and was canceled by

in 2011.

Plot

Lux Cassidy ( Britt Robertson) has been through the foster care system for almost her whole life. Cate Cassidy (

) gave birth to her at 16 but gave her up for adoption after Social Services promised her that the baby would be adopted quickly. But the baby had heart problems (ventricular septal defect) and needed countless surgeries, so she was not a desirable candidate for adoption and ended up in the foster-care system and group homes. Just before her 16th birthday, Lux petitions a court to become an

emancipated minor Emancipation of minors is a legal mechanism by which a minor before attaining the age of majority is freed from control by their parents or guardians, and the parents or guardians are freed from responsibility for their child. Minors are norm ...

, but she learns that she must get signatures from her unknown birth parents. She locates her father, Nate Bazile (

), who operates the Open Bar inside a building his father gave him. "Baze" lives like an overgrown frat boy above the bar with two roommates: his childhood best friend Math (

Austin Basis Austin Lee Basis (born September 14, 1976) is an American actor. Early life and education Basis was born in Brooklyn, New York, where he attended Mark Twain Intermediate School 239 and Midwood High School. While majoring in theatre at Binghamto ...

), a high-school teacher; and Jamie ( Reggie Austin), who also works at the bar. However, even when he signs the papers, Baze discovers that he is already bonding with his newfound daughter, and realizes that she has his eyes. Baze introduces Lux to her mother Cate Cassidy, co-host of the "Morning Madness" drive time show at

radio station K-100 and Baze's former one-night stand from high school. Lux has been listening to Cate's voice on the radio for as long as she can remember, so she feels an instant connection to the mom she's never met. Baze takes Lux to meet Cate, who is shocked and saddened to learn that Lux has grown up in foster care instead of the real adoptive home she had been promised her baby would have, and she's reluctant to commit to her daughter. Eventually Cate wants to be a part of Lux's life, and she shows that she really does care. When a judge decides that Lux isn't ready for emancipation and unexpectedly grants temporary joint custody to Baze and Cate, they agree to try to get past the awkwardness. Because of her radio-host job and suitable house, Cate is given primary custody of Lux. Ryan Thomas ( Kerr Smith), her radio-broadcast partner and fiancé, also bonds with Lux and is sometimes better able to reach her than her parents, because he's faced issues similar to hers. As the series progresses, Baze becomes more responsible and works harder to get the bar and the loft apartment in shape so it's fit for Lux to stay with him sometimes; eventually he sets aside a corner of the loft for her bedroom. Their close bond is causing slacker-esque Baze to prove that he can come through for Lux and provide support and love. As for Cate, she constantly disappoints Lux, but she does mean well, and Alice ( Erin Karpluk), producer of her radio show, often serves as her much-needed confidante. Ryan breaks up with Cate, but eventually they reconcile and the engagement is back on. He also relents a bit towards Baze after the two have drinks and Baze explains that all he is to Cate is Lux's father. But by the series' send, Baze and Ryan are good friends. Baze's bar is owned by his father Jack ( Robin Thomas), who considers Baze a disappointment, but softens towards him somewhat in later episodes, due to Lux's entrance in their lives. Baze himself later buys the bar. Also seen is Cate's four-times-divorced mother, who had convinced Cate to give up Lux; and Baze's level-headed, understanding mother Ellen ( Susan Hogan). Both love Lux when they meet her, though Ellen seems to have the stronger grandmotherly bond with her. Lux had been attending Longfellow High, a rough high school in Portland, but Cate enrolls her at Westmonte High, the alma mater of herself, Baze, and Math, and the institution at which Math currently teaches. At first infuriated, Lux soon adapts and makes friends, among them popular Jones Mager (Austin Butler) who is the quarterback like her father was. Meanwhile, she wonders how friends from her old life might fit into her new one. Tasha Siviac has been her best friend since she was seven (they met at Sunnyvale, the foster-care home), and Lux hopes to stay in touch with her, her boyfriend Gavin, and Lux's own first boyfriend Bug, who has been in trouble with the law; this might imperil Lux's new life with Baze and Cate. Lux's longtime social worker Fern Redmund is instrumental in helping Cate and Baze get their parental rights reinstated and helping the three become an official family. Fern thus becomes a family friend. At various times Baze incurs Cate's wrath by sleeping with Cate's younger sister, Lux's Aunt Abby, a neurotic therapist and yoga practitioner. Baze also sleeps with Ryan's sister Paige after a drunk incident in season two. Lux meets a young man, Eric Daniels, at Baze's bar; after she goes on a date with him she discovers that he is her new teacher. The second season deals with this affair, which ends when Eric leaves town when Cate and Baze threaten to call the police if he doesn't resign his job and leave Portland; Cate and Ryan's new marriage and attempts to conceive; and Baze's relationship with coworker Emma Bradshaw who has a son, Sam. Later Tasha becomes more a part of the family's life after she strikes out on her own. Bug and Gavin disappear, Bug having left town after Lux rejected his marriage proposal. Cate miscarried her child with Ryan because of a condition she developed after having Lux. Lux being the only child she would ever have created a stronger bond between mother and daughter, and Lux finally realizes that she has a real mom who loves her and won't let anything or anyone harm her. After nearly giving in to desire, Baze breaks up with Emma after learning from Lux that Emma had had an affair with his dad. It didn't happen when Baze was going out with her, but it meant his dad cheating on his mother, and he decided that he could never be with Emma without thinking of his father. The show then fast-forwards two years to Lux delivering the commencement speech at her graduation. It is revealed that Ryan and Julia are together and have a young son from their affair, and that Baze and Cate are finally together as a couple. Math and Alice are married and expecting. Jones also kisses Lux, revealing that they end up together, and Tasha is seen happy for them. At the end, the family and friends take a photo together.

Cast

* Britt Robertson as

Lux Cassidy Lux Cassidy is a fictional character and one of the protagonists of the CW television series ''Life Unexpected''. She is portrayed by Britt Robertson. The result of a teenage pregnancy, her mother gave her up for adoption. However, she has a hear ...

Megan Charpentier Megan Charpentier (born May 26, 2001) is a Canadian actress, best known for her roles as the feral child Victoria in the horror film ''Mama'' (2013), as the Red Queen in '' Resident Evil: Retribution'' (2012), and for her role as Gretta Keene ...

as Young Little Lux Cassidy *

as Cate Cassidy *

as Nathaniel "Baze" Bazile * Kerr Smith as Ryan Thomas *

as Matthew "Math" Rogers *

Ksenia Solo Ksenia Solo (born 8 October 1987; pronounced ) is a Latvian-Canadian actress known for portraying Mackenzie "Kenzi" Malikov on ''Lost Girl''. She portrayed Peggy Shippen on '' Turn: Washington's Spies''. Solo also portrayed the character "Natash ...

as Natasha "Tash" Siviac *

Emma Caulfield Emma Caulfield Ford (born April 8, 1973) is an American actress. She is best known for her starring role as former demon Anya Jenkins on the supernatural drama television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1998–2003), which earned her a no ...

as Emma Bradshaw *

Arielle Kebbel Arielle Caroline Kebbel (born February 19, 1985) is an American actress and model. She has appeared in various television series, including ''Gilmore Girls'' (2003–2004), ''The Vampire Diaries'' (2009–2017), ''Life Unexpected'' (2010), ''90 ...

as Paige * Austin Butler as Jones Mager *Lucia Walters as Fern Redmund * Erin Karpluk as Alice * Rafi Gavron as Bobby "Bug" Guthrie *

Shaun Sipos Shaun Sipos (born October 30, 1981) is a Canadian actor, known for playing Jack on the ABC series ''Complete Savages'', Eric Daniels on ''Life Unexpected,'' David Breck on The CW series ''Melrose Place'', Aaron Whitmore on The CW's ''The Vampi ...

as Eric Daniels *

Landon Liboiron Landon Liboiron (born March 10, 1991) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for playing Declan Coyne in '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'' and his lead role as Peter Rumancek in Netflix's original series ''Hemlock Grove'' (2013–15). Early life ...

as Sam * Reggie Austin as Jamie

Background

Creator Liz Tigelaar came up with the idea for the show in 2007 and developed it with director Gary Fleder. Tigelaar and Fleder pitched the show, then titled ''Light Years'', to ABC Studios who accepted it, selling the show to

. In September 2008

ordered the show to pilot. After the pilot was ordered, ABC dropped the show for financial reasons. The show was picked up by

CBS Television Studios CBS Studios, Inc. is an American television production company which is a subsidiary of CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. It was formed on January 17, 2006, by CBS Corporation as CBS Paramount Television, as a renaming of the o ...

. The pilot was filmed in January 2009, written by Tigelaar and directed by Fleder. Both served as executive producers.

announced the series in January 2009 under the working title of ''Light Years'' because the main character Lux's name means Light. According to Tigelaar, the title "tested way too sci-fi" and it was changed to ''LUX'' in April. Soon changed again into ''Life Unexpected,'' the series was promoted at the CW

Upfronts In the television industry, an upfront is a gathering at the start of important advertising sales periods, held by television network executives and attended by major advertisers and the media. It is so named because of its main purpose, to allow ...

in May as ''Parental Discretion Advised''. That June, the network reverted to the name ''Life UneXpected'', highlighting the name of the main character in capital letters. Initial advertising for the series in fall 2009 listed it without the capitalized "X", which became the final version.

Production

While the show is set in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, most of the filming was done in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, British Columbia. Many external scenes were filmed in Portland, including the many bridges, MAX Lightrail, China Town Arch, Portland's Amtrak Union Station, and other Portland locations. Scenes of Westmonte High were filmed at

Sutherland Secondary School Sutherland Secondary School is a public high school in the city of North Vancouver, British Columbia and part of School District 44 North Vancouver. Sutherland Secondary School was at one time a junior high school. At the time, many students the ...

in North Vancouver and H. J. Cambie Secondary School in Richmond, British Columbia. The exterior of Baze's bar is located on Granville Island and the Ironworks Building in Vancouver. North Shore Studios, formally Lionsgate, was used as the primary studio for season one while Coast Mountain Film Studios housed the show for the second and final season. The show premiered on

on Monday, January 18, 2010. The 13-episode first season run ended on April 12, 2010. The series was picked up for a second season for an initial thirteen episode order, which premiered on September 14, 2010 airing on Tuesdays at 9/8c (following ''

One Tree Hill One Tree Hill may refer to: * "One Tree Hill" (song), a 1987 song by U2 referencing One Tree Hill, New Zealand volcanic peak * ''One Tree Hill'' (TV series), a 2003–2012 American drama series named for the U2 song ** ''One Tree Hill'' (soundtr ...

)''. In October 2010,

ordered two additional scripts. In November 2010 The CW declined to order the back 9 episodes for the show's second and final season, leaving the season's episode count at 13. Members of the cast campaigned to save the show. On December 6, 2010 series creator, Liz Tigelaar made the TV show's cancellation official via

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

''One Tree Hill'' crossover

In an attempt to improve ''Life Unexpecteds ratings by attracting ''

'' viewers,

aired a crossover event involving both programs on October 12, 2010. Beginning with ''One Tree Hill'' installment "Nobody Taught Us to Quit",

Haley James Scott ''One Tree Hill'' is an American television series created by Mark Schwahn for The WB in 2003. After its third season, The WB and UPN merged to form The CW, which then became the broadcaster for the show in the United States. Schwahn served as ...

( Bethany Joy Lenz) and Mia Catalano (

Kate Voegele Kate Elizabeth Voegele (; born December 8, 1986) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She made her musical debut in 2003, with the release of her ''The Other Side'' extended play. She performed numerous local live shows to promote the a ...

) traveled to Portland (where ''Life Unexpected'' is set) to perform at the Sugar Magnolia Music Festival hosted by K-100. Haley and Cate meet in the crossover and are "surprised to learn that they share a similar back story smothers." "Music Faced," the ''Life Unexpected'' episode of the crossover, also featured Sarah McLachlan, Ben Lee and Rain Perry whose song "Beautiful Tree" serves as the series' opening theme.

Series overview

Episodes

Season 1 (2010)

Season 2 (2010–11)

The series was renewed by The CW for a second season on May 20, 2010. It was also moved to Tuesday nights at 9:00 p.m.

Reception

Critical response

The first season of ''Life Unexpected'' scored a 69 out of 100 on

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

. The series has garnered mostly positive feedback, with many reviews favorably comparing the show to the critically acclaimed series ''

Gilmore Girls ''Gilmore Girls'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and starring Lauren Graham (Lorelai Gilmore) and Alexis Bledel (Rory Gilmore). The show debuted on October 5, 2000, on The WB and became a flagshi ...

'' and '' Everwood''. Maureen Ryan, from the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'', stated that the show "recall the good things about shows like ''Gilmore Girls'' and ''Everwood''," and similarly, Hank Stuever from ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' called it "a pleasant mix of a little ''

Juno Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods *Juno (film), ''Juno'' (film), 2007 Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno'' *Ju ...

'' hipitude and a lot of ''Everwood'' glow." Furthermore, the ''Chicago Tribune'' review called ''Life Unexpected'' a program "that parents and their older kids could enjoy together without feeling condescended to," and ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

s Matthew Gilbert states that "the show works, in its own hokey, feel-good, alt-soundtrack way." Show writer Liz Tigelaar (who has also worked on '' Brothers & Sisters'', '' American Dreams'', and ''

Once and Again ''Once and Again'' is an American family drama television series that aired on ABC from September 21, 1999, to April 15, 2002. It depicts the family of a single mother and her romance with a single father. It was created by Marshall Herskovitz a ...

''), has received much praise. A review in the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' called Tigelaar's writing smart and insightful. Similarly, Randee Dawn, from ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' stated that Tigelaar "has a delicate, spot-on feel for dialogue." ''The Futon Critics Brian Ford Sullivan singled out writer Liz Tigelaar and director Gary Fleder for adeptly exploring Lux's perceived lack of love in her life. On a negative note, a review in the '' Chicago Sun Times'' by Paige Wiser called the show "somewhat predictable" and ''The Posts Stuever adds that ''Life Unexpected'' "burns off its most interesting plot twist ..in the first 20 minutes."

Ratings

Accolades

''Life Unexpected'' was nominated for " Choice TV Breakout Show" at the

2010 Teen Choice Awards The 2010 Teen Choice Awards ceremony was held on August 8, 2010, at the Gibson Amphitheatre, Universal City, California. Several new categories were introduced, separated into "Movie", "TV", "Music", "Summer", "Fashion" and "Other". The ceremony ...

Broadcast

In Canada the show premiered on the

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the FTA Receiver, appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring ...

channel

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

and on the

pay TV Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, b ...

channel YTV Canada. In Europe the show premiered on E4 for the United Kingdom from September 19, 2010, on

Sixx Sixx is a German free-to-air television channel specialised for women. It was launched on 7 May 2010 at 8:15pm. Programming German *'' Abenteuer Ferne'' *''Alles außer Sex'' * ''Anna und die Liebe'' *'' Besser Essen – leben leicht gemac ...

for Germany from January 4, 2011, and on

RTÉ Two (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

for Ireland from August 2011. In Oceania the show premiered on MediaWorks' C4 for

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

from October 2010 and on

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

for Australia from November 5, 2011. In India the show premiered on

Big CBS Prime Big CBS Prime was an India based English language television channel started as a joint venture between Reliance Broadcast Network Limited and CBS Studios International(now Paramount International Networks). The channel went on air and began ...

from February 2013.

Home media releases

The two seasons were released together on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

in Region 1 on April 5, 2011. It was later released in Region 4 in 2012.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Life Unexpected 2010s American teen drama television series 2010 American television series debuts 2011 American television series endings The CW original programming English-language television shows Television series about shared parenting Television series about teenagers Television series by CBS Studios Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Television shows filmed in Vancouver Television shows set in Portland, Oregon