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Life Unexpected: Season 1
  • Network: The CW
  • Series Premiere Date: Jan 18, 2010
  • Season #: 1 , 2 , 3
Life Unexpected Image
Metascore
69 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 20 Critics What's this?

User Score
8.3 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 26 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • Summary: After 15 years in foster care, Lux seeks out her birth parents so she can become an emancipated minor. She finds her father who reveals her mother is her favorite radio host. A judge refuses Lux's request and gives shared custody to her parents instead.
  • Genre(s): Drama

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
  1. San Jose Mercury News/Contra Costa Times
    Reviewed by: Chuck Barney
    83
    Lux is one of those cute, quippy, ultra-mature teens you find only on TV. And several plot points unfortunately come across as false. But it doesn't matter. The lead characters in Life Unexpected are so likable, and the interactions between them feel so natural, that you find yourself willing to give the show lots of slack.
  2. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: David Hinckley
    80
    Life Unexpected is TV pleasure unexpected.
  3. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Mike Hale
    60
    CW shows tend to walk a thin line between escapism and soap opera, and after its witty pilot the show spends Episodes 2 and 3 massaging the tear ducts, hard. But there is the potential for something at least as good as "Gilmore Girls."

See all 20 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 4
  3. Negative: 1 out of 4
  1. 1975Supra
    10
    A heart-warming, if not sometimes heart-wrenching, show with an on-screen chemistry between the actors that has not been seen in a TV series for a long-time. Cut off in it's prime by CW with the season 2 finale showing the leaps made to wrap the series from the previous episode. A missed opportunity for at least 2 further series. Britt Robertson is an actress to watch out for in the coming years alongside Kristoffer Polaha ( a fairly new face to UK TV ).… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. nerdherder
    10
    One of the best shows to come out of 2010! I Have just finished watching Life Unexpected in the UK (literally seen the finale today) and I've been watching an episode a day (as they've been broadcast) for about a month, if I could have sat down and watched it all back to back I would have done. The show has been created from such a simple concept but there was never a dull moment! As with any show, every now and again you like some characters more than others but at the end of the day there are some fantastically written and crafted story lines!! It was sad that the show had to end (yet another annoying cancellation!!) but unlike some shows, this one at least got a good ending that nicely wraps up the show!… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. Paul
    1
    Unwatchable soap opera nonsense meant to fool the very young who haven't seen it ALL before. Everything is a writer's manipulation. The teen's name is Lux. (Means light, get it? Funny how her name isn't, say, Verbose. Look it up, kids.) And the couple who will raise her are radio talk show hosts, so they can display the angst both off AND on the air. Oh, goody! Couldn't last through more than 20 minutes of this phony nonsense. I feel for Shiri Appleby, who deserve's MUCH better. It's a shame when your real life drama makes less sense than your Sci-Fi drama. Why don't reviewers just tell the truth and review these shows with 2 words: CW soap. That's all they need to say.… Expand
    • 1 of 2 users said yes

See all 4 User Reviews

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