The comeback kid

Jason Bateman spent a decade making flop TV shows and battling with drink before turning in an award-winning lead performance in cult sitcom Arrested Development. Now the former child star is back on top with a string of movie roles. Andrew Purcell meets him

Wednesday December 19, 2007
The Guardian

America's pop cultural landscape is littered with former child stars who have been permanently damaged by the experience of being too famous, too soon. Michael Jackson, Britney Spears and Macaulay Culkin are the most visible cautionary tales but there are enough C-list burn-outs to warrant their own support group. A Minor Consideration was founded by Paul Petersen, one of the original Mouseketeers in the Mickey Mouse Club, to offer counselling and legal advice, following three child actor suicides in quick succession.

Continued...

From LATiimes.com :

Almost famous? She knows it well

By Shawn Hubler, Special to The Times
July 23, 2007

It's easy today to be almost famous. Semi-stardom is never more than a YouTube moment away.

But there was a time when almost fame involved scratching and clawing and give-give-giving. And even then — even after you, say, tap-danced your toes off and got into the same child-acting school in the Valley that Helen Hunt once attended and hustled to auditions and then dropped out of Cal State Northridge and hung out on Sunset Boulevard and waited tables and did a test centerfold shoot for Playboy that didn't appear until 20 years later, but still, there you were, shivering in a corset — what did it get you?

If you're Stacey Grenrock Woods, a pretty funny tale.

"I just wanted to be noticed," Grenrock Woods, now 38 and well past the almost-fame thing, explained on a recent weekday afternoon.

A slender, sweet-faced writer and comedic actress — she looks a little like a young Diane Keaton and was once cast as a teacher on the WB's churchy hit "7th Heaven" — she was lounging, as usual, in the Los Feliz apartment she and her husband, a musician, have rented for seven years.

She did eventually score some gigs that were noteworthy by late-'90s standards. She was the talent booker at the storied Viper Room. She was an early player on "The Daily Show," interviewing people who danced with their cats and made statues of the Blessed Virgin out of dryer lint. She had a recurring role on Fox's "Arrested Development" as Trisha Thoon, the TV newscaster. Then, four years ago, she became a contributing editor at Esquire magazine, where she is the resident sex columnist.

In other words, as with so much in L.A. (lives, freeways, lighted matches in brush-fire season), one thing sort of led to another. This month, Scribner released her comic account of her adventures, "I, California: The Occasional History of a Child Actress, Tap Dancer, Record Store Clerk, Thai Waitress, Playboy Reject, Nightclub Booker, 'Daily Show' Correspondent, Sex Columnist, Recurring Character and Whatever Else."

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It's nice to finally have a star of Arrested Development starring again in something well-reviewed (sorry, Will Arnett).  While others have gotten good reviews for their performances in otherwise-problematic movies and shows (see: Let's Go to Prison, RV, The Ex, Blades of Glory, 20 Good Years, etc.), Mikey Cera is the first to get a good review for his performance in a production that's also good since Tony Hale in Andy Barker, P.I.

And Mikey (and Superbad) is getting plenty of good reviews. Here's a sampling:

MoviesOnline.ca :

I finally saw Superbad. With a title like Superbad, one is inclined to rely on a pun involving the title. For example, if I was Gene Shalit or someone, I would say, "Superbad is Super-GREAT!". Or, "Superbad? More like SuperbadASS!!" Because I'm here to tell you something. It is that good. Superbadass, indeed. This movie is amazing. I can't believe how damn funny this is, and it never slows down. What Bourne Ultimatum did with action, this movie does with comedy. No, that's putting it too far. My claim that The Simpsons Movie was the funniest of the summer has just been challenged.

Arkansas Times :

Here's an endorsement: I've already seen “Superbad” twice. It's that riotously funny. It's also pretty sweet, in a way that teen movies usually are not, and tremendously foul-mouthed, so much so that it's a pretty safe bet that, despite its many redeeming qualities, your mom would not approve.

Cleveland Free Times :

 Still riding Knocked Up's wave of success, the latest Apatow production is set up to be a blockbuster monster - and for once, it's a film that actually deserves being prepped for this proverbial slam-dunk. We're going to go ahead and call it now: Michael Cera is the funniest actor in Hollywood. Although the 19-year-old Canadian is best-known for playing George Michael Bluth, an incest-obsessed high-schooler on the now-defunct sitcom Arrested Development, in his first feature role he displays a subtle mastery of physical comedy that makes it pretty much impossible to look at his face without completely losing it.

From MovieWeb :

...According to Variety, Arrested Development's mother of the year Jessica Walters has just joined the cast of Henry Poole Is Here. ...

In Henry Poole Is Here, Walters will play the mother of Henry Poole (Luke Wilson), a man who believes he only has six weeks to live. Instead of doing something worthwhile, he sinks into the back of his couch with a bag of cheetos and says good-bye to the world. This life of debauchery leads to a confrontation with his neighbors. Cheryl Hines and Adriana Barraza also star. Mark Pellington is directing.

From Variety :

 Former HBO and Fox exec Tracy Katsky has joined Nickelodeon, which recruited the exec to fill a newly created top development slot.

As senior vice president of development and original programming, Katsky will handle all of Nickelodeon's live-action and animation development, as well as live-action current series production on the West Coast.

But it's not all child's play: Katsky will handle series development and live-action current programming for older sib Nick at Nite.

...

"Tracy is highly regarded in the creative community and brings with her a tremendous expertise," Cohn said. "Her enthusiasm and fresh take on kids' programming will perfectly complement our team."

Katsky built her rep as a tastemaker at Fox, where as senior VP of comedy she developed critical faves such as "Arrested Development," "Andy Richter Controls the Universe," "Undeclared" and "Bernie Mac."...