Thicke of the Night

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Thicke of the Night was an American late night talk show produced by MGM Television, distributed in syndication by Metromedia and broadcast in first-run syndication during the 1983-1984 TV season.

Intended as a rival to The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, the series was hosted by Canadian actor and songwriter Alan Thicke, who was well known in his home country for hosting The Alan Thicke Show, a popular daytime talk show that ended when Thicke was signed to do the American show.

Thicke was not a complete unknown in America, having been a writer for shows such as Fernwood 2Nite and also composing the theme songs for such sitcoms as The Facts of Life and Diff'rent Strokes and the original theme song for the game show Wheel of Fortune.

The debut of the series on September 5, 1983 was preceded by a huge publicity campaign that led some critics to dub the series "Sick of the Hype".^{[citation needed]}

When the series finally did air, it was unable to compete against the Tonight Show in the ratings, and critics were not kind to the show's blend of comedy and talk show. Even the commercials that aired between segments seemed to have an axe to grind with the show and its host. In a later interview on another talk show, Alan Thicke described a maxi pad ad with the unfortunate slogan, "Once you try our brand, you'll never go back to thick again!"

As the season progressed, the show was retooled so that it more closely resembled Thicke's popular Canadian talk show. But at the end of the 1983-84 season, it was cancelled. A year later, Thicke attained American TV stardom with the series Growing Pains.

Among the regulars on Thicke of the Night were Richard Belzer, Arsenio Hall, Rick Ducommun, Charles Fleischer, Fred Willard and Wally George. Fred Silverman was the show's producer (he later went on to produce the popular dramas Matlock and In the Heat of the Night).

The show was later satirized in an SCTV skit as Maudlin O'The Night starring Sammy Maudlin (Joe Flaherty) in a new show that is put together for him by Fred Silverman without William B. Williams (John Candy) as co-host, and with 'Maudlin's Zany's' as his new back-up. The show is a disaster, with a drunken Henry Kissinger (Eugene Levy) destroying the set in a fit of pique, kicking Howie Soozloff (based on Howie Mandel, played by Martin Short) in the groin, and with Maudlin, the Zanys, and Kissinger chasing Silverman around the studio in anger.