On January 19, The CW will make a bold move:

The network will put one of its most buzzed-about shows, Gossip Girl, on hiatus. In its place, it will premiere Life UneXpected. This new drama is receiving rave reviews from critics that compare it to classic CW programs such as Gilmore Girls.

We've seen the pilot and we'll review it shortly. For now, allow us to back up these lofty claims: the Life UneXpected cast is as wonderful as the spelling of the show's title is stupid.

Britt Robertson, Kristoffer Polaha, Shiri Appleby and Kerr Smith anchor a series with heart and humor, emotion and drama. It centers around Lux (Robertson), a 15-year old foster child that needs the signature of her birth parents (Polaha and Appleby) in order to be legally emancipated.

But the plan doesn't go as smoothly as Lux had hoped. Take a look at a few photos from the pilot episode below, and prepare for the next, great CW drama...

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.