People just a shade younger than me have an entirely different mental association with Alan Thicke (Alan Jeffrey, 1947-2016). To them, he is the dad on the TV sitcom Growing Pains (1985-1992). But I was nearly 20 when that show came out, and then I went to theatre school (where I had no time for TV) but even so I wouldn't have given that show the time of day -- it was just another one of that enormous crop of seemingly identical, bland family sit-coms I never bothered watching. So the Alan Thicke who I remember was an earlier incarnation just prior to that.
First of all, who was he? That's what everyone asked at the time, as well. In the mid '70s Thicke was a Canadian game show host (and game show theme song composer) with his cap set for the American big time. His stepping stone proved to be the CBC produced The Bobby Vinton Show (1975-77), of which Thicke was one of the producers. The Bobby Vinton Show was a syndicated hit in the U.S., increasing his Hollywood visibility. Norman Lear then hired him as a writer/producer on the Mary Hartman Mary Hartman spinoffs Fernwood 2 Night and America 2 Night (1977-78). During these years he also cowrote/produced/performed the theme songs to the shows Diff'rent Strokes (1978) and The Facts of Life (1979) with his wife Gloria Loring and others.
In 1980 he got his own Canadian talk show The Alan Thicke Show, and this made some people sit up and notice. Not only was Thicke good-looking, but he sang well, was good at conducting interviews, and even possessed a quick wit, in the dry, deadpan Canadian tradition. In 1983 came the big move: Thicke of the Night, a syndicated late night talk show designed to compete with Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. The show was massively hyped at the time of its launch, with the name Alan Thicke (whom we'd never heard of) shoved down everyone's throats in endless ads. It kind of backfired, because we were all like, "What do you take us for?" He wasn't for example, a stand-up comedian we had previously seen on television. And his surname (a made-up one, I might add) is kind of disgusting! In retrospect you can see the calculation, though. The name Thicke of the Night even evokes Fernwood/ America 2 Night...which I never noticed at the time. Thicke's dry, snarky manner was not unlike David Letterman's, who was just beginning to blossom at the time. But it was a heavy lift, making a go of that kind of show, so he joined the ranks of Joan Rivers, Jerry Lewis, Chevy Chase, and others who crashed on the shoals. His sidekick on the show however did succeed very well in this field. He was Arsenio Hall.
Luckily he was able to pivot to acting. In fact, we had occasion to mention a movie featuring one of his first roles The Calendar Girl Murders (1984), just a couple of days ago. Keep in mind, Thicke was an announcer and a game show host, a presenter. When he acts, I find him stilted and uncomfortable, as though watching George Fenneman or Alex Trebek in a role. But I guess Growing Pains did something for somebody; it was on the air for eight years.
Thick died in the best possible way for a 69 year old to go. He was horsing around with his family, playing hockey, when he collapsed. His heart had ruptured; he lasted only a few hours. I'm sure it was sad for his family. But to go quickly and without warning, prior to reaching the awful years of helplessness, seems pretty enviable. In other words may we all depart this earth...in the THICK of the NIGHT.
For more on the history of show business, consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, and please stay tuned for my upcoming Electric Vaudeville: A Century of Radio and TV Variety.
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