Postcards From Jason & Justine Bateman

If you've been following my blog for a bit, you'll know it's no secret that growing up I was head-over-heels in love with Jason Bateman. Jason, Corey Feldman, Sean Astin, Kirk Cameron and Ralph Macchio were my other top favorite teen stars - I had scrapbooks, posters, pin-ups, etc. I wrote them countless letters in hopes of some sort of acknowledgment.

Anyway, during the Silver Spoons/Family Ties era of 1983, my favorite actor and actress were Jason from Silver Spoons and his big sister Justine from Family Ties. I watched both shows religiously while sitting Indian style on the floor of our den, glued to the TV set.
 

I must have sent Jason at least five letters before turning to his sister to find out why I was getting the brushoff. I thought, WTF? I had to be the coolest 11-year-old fan he had. I wore preppy sweaters and liked cool music like Jason. I knew all of his favorite foods, colors and movies. I could see us hanging out at the arcade together sipping a Slurpee (well, Mom didn't allowed me to have Slurpees, too much sugar, but still).

I read so many articles in Tiger Beat and Bop about Jason. It was like I actually knew him. I loved how we were both from New York -- even though he was from Rye, a place I had never been to. The only thing I knew about Rye at age 11, was that it was home to Rye Playland, an awesome-looking amusement park often advertised on WPIX.

I knew Jason's mom was a flight attendant. I knew his middle name was Kent, after his dad. I knew his birthday was January 14. I knew his height and weight.  I knew every single TV show he had ever appeared on. Yes, I was his biggest fan. Let the loser girls have Ricky, "The Ricker" (super lame!) -- Jason was all mine!

So one fateful July summery day, I received a postcard from Justine. I had begged her to have her bro send me a note and an autographed photo. There it was, in green ink, the artsiest, coolest handwriting ever - a note written just to me! PERSONALLY! It said:

"HI ALLYSON - JASON HAS YOUR LETTER BUT HE IS GETTING NEW PHOTOS SO HE WILL ANSWER YOU NEXT WEEK. THERE IS A STORY & PICS IN 'TEEN BEAT' & NBC NEW YORK HAS A BIO AND 'PEOPLE' & 'TV GUIDE' HAVE INFO."

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A few days later, I received a postcard in the exact same handwriting, confirming it wasn't really Jason or Justine who replied. My heart sank. Maybe it was their mom. Maybe it was their publicist. I was crushed, yet still excited to snag their autographs.

"THANKS FOR YOUR LETTER TO ME. I AM 14. JANUARY 14, 1984 I'LL BE 15. JUSTINE SAYS HI. SHE IS MY SISTER [NO SHIT DUDE!] I JUST DID A MOVIE WITH GARY COLEMAN CALLED 'DC COLLINS' [YES, I KNOW THIS ALREADY].

So that was the last I heard from the Bateman's. We weren't going to be friends. We weren't hittin' the mall any time soon. Jason and I wouldn't be playing an intense game of Pac-Man in the near future. He wasn't moving back to NY. He was probably living life in that magical place I had never been to called Woodland Hills. Home to Corey and all of the other cool kids, while I rotted in Nassau County, Long Island. Home to nobody cool at the time other than Billy Joel who was much too old for me.

I never really followed Jason into adulthood. I gave up on all of this teen idol nonsense by about 9th grade. I recently checked in on ole JB on Wiki. It turns out his parents were living off of his and Justine's paychecks. He married Paul Anka's daughter, which is pretty cool - my dad used to sing Paul Anka songs to me when I was little. Dad and I danced to his song "Time Of Your Life" at my wedding.

Jason today still working hard in movies and TV