Thicke liked his rising status behind the scenes, but openly wanted to duplicate the on-camera success he had in Canada stateside. He parlayed his work as producer-writer and occasional on-camera talent on the syndicated "Fernwood 2-Night" and "America 2-Night" into what he thought would be a successful syndicated alternative to "The Tonight Show." The 1983-84 result was one of the most publicized disasters of the 80s. After licking his wounds and co-starring in "The Calendar Girl Murders" a 1984 ABC TV-movie, Thicke hit pay dirt with his last-minute casting as Dr. Jason Seaver, the psychiatrist father of kids having "Growing Pains" (ABC, 1985-92). A seven-year run on ABC followed, and Thicke found himself hosting "Animal Crack-Ups" on ABC Saturday mornings for three years (1987-90), as well as hosting such specials as "The Circus of the Stars", "Walt Disney World's Very Merry Christmas Parade" and "The Miss Universe" and "Miss USA" pageants. In 1995, he returned to series TV as Dennis DuPree, the pompous talk show host (reminiscent of Ted Baxter on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show") tormenting the life of Hope on the NBC series "Hope & Gloria". Thicke has also appeared in a handful of feature films, including "Hitting Home" (1988) and the lead in "Stepmonster" (1993).