The End of Life (Unexpected)

The interesting thing about the end of Life Unexpected is how very expected it was. The sweet show that would have fit perfectly on The WB never made much sense for The CW- the teenagers looked like teenagers, there were actual adults, it was more heart than sex organ. And though Tuesday's 2-hour offering was labeled a "season finale", everyone knows it was really a farewell to the lovely if short-lived show.

The first hour wrapped up the season's stories: we said farewell to Erik exactly as we should have, though I was perplexed at how fond I'd grown of him, and Emma's story was wrapped. The latter was less interesting, a bit of a character-under-the-bus issue, but the scenes with Baze and Sam were sweet.

The last hour was the series finale. It brought the focus back to the central grouping of Lux, Baze, Kate and Ryan. Some excellent Ryan moments saved the parent story from the annoying monster that is Kate, and Jones came back for an excellent scene that finally said what I've always believed: Jones is awesome, and not "normal". Thank god for a show that finally acknowledges that it's not just the "weird" protagonists that have stuff to deal with, it's the golden boys too, and everyone in between. Ryan fought for her so "Morning Madness with Kate and Ryan" returned to the radio with a sweet full circle banter session and Baze took back his bar (about time).

The final couple scenes got a little schmoopy with the "I love you" exposition and the would-be cliffhanger annoyed me at first. But I loved flashing forward 2 years to Lux's graduation. The easy resolution of the cliffhanger was nice to see, instead of being left with the trademark ambiguous ending of a show that's not sure if its canceled or not. Though the happily-ever-afters got a little tedious, I was happy to see the characters happy and Lux's speech was lovely (though she completely misused the concept of lightyears- they're space, not time). Math and Erica...er...Alice is a cute if convenient pairing, as is Fern and that other guy who was always around. I liked that Jones is still in Lux's life though I wish he had stayed with Tasha instead of ending up with Lux (I get the poetry of her feeling like she deserves the stable nice guy, but I feel bad for Tasha, she deserves that too- possibly more, Lux be kinda crazy). As for the parental pairings, my favourite part of Lux's speech is when she indirectly thanked Ryan for never leaving her (Ryan was consistently my favourite character in the show, I loved his unconditional person-to-fall-back-on-ness), I loved that he sticked around. Not so sure about him marrying the random lady with his baby but he was always too good for Kate so actually I'm okay with it. And Kate and Baze. Well, duh, I guess, is the only word to really describe it. It was obvious, a little uninspired but the direction the show was always going so fine. I don't actually like them together but it's fine. Is it weird that I secretly hope now that she's 18 that Lux goes and finds Erik? Yeah, that's weird. Fine, she can steal Jones from her best friend, fine (not fine).

I seem to be complaining a lot, I know, but I really did like the finale. I even cried (in that Ryan part, I love Ryan). Life Unexpected was a sweet show and (like Ryan for Kate) it was too good for The CW, that's why it's over. Poor Kristoffer Polaha's streak of good-but-canceled shows continues, he's so charming, why can't he catch a break?. This one will leave a big hole for that good kid demographic who finds nothing to relate to in Gossip Girl, a hole The CW will undoubtedly try to fill with vampires. Needles to say, Life Unexpected will be missed.

My Week in TV

The Bachelorette: She picked the right guy. They rode off into the sunset. I got simultaneously jealous and then ashamed of myself. It was pretty standard. Except that she let the other guy go before the last day, causing the producers to have to scramble for a new dramatic ending. I kinda liked that, it was both humane and inconvenient- right on. I fear that The Bachelorette may have made me like Ali. Well, something new every day I guess.

Big Brother: I don't know who to cheer for. Rachel is a lunatic but Kristen is a bitch. The brigade is a bumbling alliance but Brendan has terrible taste in women. Kathy is a nothing player. Britney and Ragan aren't bad but I usually don't approve of low key players. I suppose my loyalties still lie with the smartest brigade member, Matt (who's supposed mishandled HOH last week actually took the target 100% off his back) and the so-called "floaters" Britney and Ragan whom I think are playing pretty well, just subtly (and are also each good for some solid quotables each episode). See the comments section on Tim's post from earlier this week for more of my thoughts.

Drop Dead Diva: a good episode this week proclaimed that Jane and Grayson need to grow into their soulmate-ness. It was a great scene, brilliantly acted by Brooke Elliott and well written. It's a sweet concept but exists entirely in TV land, somewhere I always credited Diva for not living.

Project Runway: It's back! That is good. That is all.

My Boys: Another solid episode this week gave us some brilliant quotes as Mike planned his own birthday celebration.

Top Chef: A decent lot of chefs completely pales in comparison to last season's. Kenny keeps proclaiming that he's the man but has yet to truly prove it. Angelo is a decently strong chef but the producers are trying too hard to frame him as a villain when he's not dynamic enough to warrrant it. Alex is kind of an interestingly sketchy character and Amanda is maddening but overall these people are blandly talented and boring. Once you go Volt you never go back. Though even without the brilliant brothers, last season still had lots of great going ons like the great characters and food of Kevin and Eli, the controversy of Robin and the tough gal persona of Jennifer. This season's got none of it. It's also the kitschiest yet, and that's saying something considering last season was set in Vegas.

Life Unexpected: I'm catching up through summer re-runs. Me like.

The Good Wife: ditto.

The Last Comic Standing: Still loving my first experience with the show. Go Tommy Go!

So You Think You Can Dance: Kent's got this. That's been obvious since the second Alex went down. However, Lauren did have a spectacular week this week and Robert's grown on me. But Travis (LOVE) choreographed one of the most upsettingly moving pieces of the series thus far and gave it to Kent to dance with all-star Neil (also, LOVE) so he's got this, there's no doubt about it. And deservingly so. I mean, it should have been Alex but he's hurt. It could have been Anthony but the producers didn't like him enough to put him in the finals. It could have been Billy, but America didn't get him (though he REALLY should have made it past Adechike). So it's Kent. He's sweet, he's charming and boy can DANCE! He can take the prize, I'm cool with that.

Bones and True Blood: My current DVD projects. I'm still in season 1 of both but hoping to catch up to the newest seasons come fall. Loving both, especially Bones (that Christmas episode is superb!)

Actor Obsession of the Week

As I continue on my epic journey of marathoning Dawson's Creek, I'm realizing that this time around I'm much more fond of Jack McPhee than ever before. Why? I'm not really sure. But as I make my way through season 4, his best season, I realize that Kerr Smith's charming football player is a much more endearing character than I've ever given him credit for being. He's cute, he's sweet, he's a loyal friend, a caring brother, a part-time jokester and the best darn little league soccer coach ever.

Add on the fact that Smith is the perfect guy to round out the cast of the CW's schmultzy darling Life Unexpected (which I'm catching up on now), and he quickly becomes an all-star of my TV week.

Further investigation reveals that the 6-foot-tall actor has a BS in business administration, taught himself to play the piano and the bass and was the face of the first gay kiss on primetime network TV.

Colour me impressed.

In related news, I'm also catching up on The Good Wife. And among that brilliant cast (Josh Charles I adore you!) is Mary Beth Peil, the Creek's erstwhile Grams. Which got me thinking: Jack is on Life Unexpected, Grams on The Good Wife, Pacey on Fringe, Audrey on Cougar Town and Dawson on Mercy. Add in 2 certified movie stars in Michelle Williams and Katie Holmes and the Dawson's Creek cast, it turns out, completely transcended any trace of a teen show curse: almost all of them going on to successful careers. I knew there was something special about that show.

Pilot Watch: Life Unexpected

So, the daughter (Lux: stupidest name in the world) is pretty vile and it falls into way too many traditional TV traps (having the characters fall back into bed together, that obnoxious "snarky sarcastic thing" that someone clearly thinks makes the characters sound clever, childish adult characters, etc...) but Life Unexpected is not unexpectedly charming.

The show's principal virtue is its engaging cast. My TV favourite Kristoffer Polaha has finally landed himself a role that shows off his incredibly charm to its full extent. Who knows, with such a strong opening, Life Unexpected may be a rare Polaha vehicle to make it to a second season (previous beloved-but-cancelled gems include Miss Guided and Valentine). The other male anchor of the series is Kerr Smith, someone who earned my love in Dawson's Creek and kept it through stints on Justice and Eli Stone. As the fiancee of the mother character, Smith plays the master of the witty banter and the true grown up among the grown ups of the series. Shiri Appleby is acceptable as Cate, the sudden mother and Brittany Robertson will hopefully grow to be unoffensive as Lux.

The pacing is very Gilmore girls and the tone is a little too forcibly current but sometimes those 2 combine for an excellent effect. The bond between Baze and daughter Lux is really well defined already just with simple scenes like them watching YouTube videos and the relationship between Cate and her fiancee/radio co-host Ryan is centered on comfortable banter. Baze's friends' distinct and likable presences shows promise for an excellent supporting cast and the premise allows for easy plot development.

All in all, though it's plagued with flaws, I expect Life Unexpected to hit a chord with a young audience that feels left out of the loop with shows like Gossip Girl and Vampire Diaries as the principle teen-oriented fare. I think it just might shape up to be something I look forward to for years to come.