Jonathan Storm: An 'unexpected' treat on the CW

PASADENA, Calif. - Must have been an off day at the office when the CW picked up Life Unexpected. The show that centers on a 16-year-old and premieres at 9 tonight is sweet, instead of packed with sex, drugs, alcohol, and sinister plots, like most of the network's recent fodder.

In the first three episodes, nobody takes off their shirt or takes off on drugs. And the only person having a cocktail is one of the grandparents.

A boy does grab a glimpse of his sister naked in the bathroom, which causes her to march down into the kitchen (wrapped in a towel) and declare to the woman there: "Your son seriously puts the 'ewww' in Stewie. . . . You would think that with your last name actually being Foster, you'd be somewhat equipped to be a foster parent."

The girl, who isn't much taller than 5 feet soaking wet, is named Lux, and if she reminds you of another verbally precocious, headstrong little lady named Juno (even if cute Britt Robertson from Swingtown falls short of the very high mark set by another munchkin, Ellen Page), that would make the CW very happy.

Lux borrows a lot from Juno, lead character in the delightful 2007 movie named after her - a poster girl for outsider child style and teen spirit, who went ahead and had her baby, even though she was the only one who thought it was good idea. Lux wears lots of hats and layers, including a bright yellow T-shirt with a big, red ladybug on the front and lettering that says, "Don't bug me."

Her boyfriend is named Bug. He has a spiderweb tattooed on his neck, and that and the rest of him truly bugs Lux's birth parents, who are not a whole lot older than Bug themselves.

Instead of having a baby to give up for adoption, Lux is the baby, and she tracks down mom and dad, now 32 years old (and going on 11), and our hearts swell (but not too much) as it becomes clear that she has a thing or two to teach the overgrown babies.

Dad runs a bar. Mom's a morning radio-show host who becomes engaged to her co-host in the first episode, even as she learns that the product of a misguided high school hookup is coming back into her life.

You won't mistake Life Unexpected for the CW's much more sophisticated Gilmore Girls, though it has skeptical grandparents and cute stars besides Robertson, including Rosewell's Shiri Appelby and West Chester native Kerr Smith, who was Jack McPhee on Dawson's Creek, one of TV's first sympathetic attempts at a gay teen character.

It can be obvious, sometime a little plodding, but its heart is bigger than all of Lux, and it's the kind of show parents and kids can watch together without anybody saying, "Ewww."; With the name Life Unexpected, it actually is an unexpected pleasure.