LizTigelaar

These days, it seems as if practically every teenage character on TV is wealthy, witty and dressed like a fashion plate -- basically, a mini-adult for whom parents and school are just an inconvenient distraction.

That's why Lux, the character Britt Robertson plays on the CW's 'Life Unexpected,' is such a breath of fresh air on the teen drama landscape. Having grown up in foster care, 16-year-old Lux tracks down her birth parents so that she can be legally emancipated, only to find herself stuck with them (and vice versa). Her birth mom, Cate Cassidy (Shiri Appleby), is a radio host who's romantically involved with co-host Ryan Thomas (Kerr Smith); her dad is bar owner Nate "Baze" Bazile (Kristoffer Polaha), a lifelong slacker who's forced to grow up right along with Lux.

As Lux, Robertson -- at 19 already a showbiz veteran, with credits that include 'Dan in Real Life' and 'Swingtown' -- gives a charming, unpretentious, totally relatable performance, which is one of the many reasons 'Life Unexpected' (which has been compared to family dramas like 'Gilmore Girls' and 'Everwood') is one of the best midseason shows of 2010. We spoke with Robertson from her home in L.A. about where both she and Lux are headed in the future.

(S01E03) Heartstrings were pulled again repeatedly on this episode of 'Life Unexpected,' were they not?

After minor meltdowns from Lux, Baze and Cate last week, the three of them seem to be moving into something of a routine now, having gotten past the sketchy friends and threatening to move out portion of their relationship. Last week, we dug a bit deeper into Lux's life, and this week, we meet Cate and Baze's respective families, who are loud, obnoxious, annoying and intrusive ... which seems pretty much par for the course as far as families go.

The CW's TCA panels today were full of beautiful people. It seemed like all the shows were about young pretty things in scandalous situations. Even the highly-anticipated Vampire Diaries didn't look much different, except some of the over-sexed high schoolers were vampires. But one show shined through the pretty clutter in the CW's new slate. Too bad we won't see it until early 2010.

That show is Life Unexpected, which CW programming head Dawn Ostroff described as "Juno meets Gilmore Girls." After seeing the pilot, I can agree with that description. It's sweet, warm, even a little bit hokey. In fact, it feels like a show that would have been on the old WB network. What the heck is it doing on the CW?