Best of DLS: Merry Thickemas

Hour two of Christmas Day is a little gift. Two lively Alan Thicke interviews—one from his first visit and one around the Canucks’ Cup run—RIP to a true friend of the show; enjoy the energy.

You’re one of TV’s iconic dads, and you also wrote those unforgettable theme songs. Were you actually bigger as a songwriter than as an actor?

I wrote a bunch, but I was a four-to-six-chord guy, not a virtuoso, and I happily let my son Robin own the musician title now. Writing themes was a fun puzzle—set up a whole show in about 24 seconds—and I even sang the Different Strokes opener, which still pays in ringtone land.

People still call you Mr. Seaver; where do you rank among sitcom dads?

A poll had me in the thirties, which sounds fair. I’m proud of Growing Pains and that family-hour era, and I get a kick seeing Modern Family mirror my blended-life setup.

You also did Wheel of Fortune and Joker’s Wild—your stuff is everywhere. Give us a quick taste?

Careful, that’ll cost you royalties, but yes, I let a few bars fly and even joined a mock presidential Facts of Life sing-along.

How did you meet your wife—there’s a Marlins story, right?

I hosted a Florida Marlins fundraiser, she was modeling, I did the classic actor move and asked her out. Ten years later we were still going strong.

Your book is How to Raise Kids Who Won’t Hate You. What’s the core advice, especially around fame?

It’s okay if they’re mad at you for a week; better that than resenting you for life because you dodged the hard calls. Make your voice cut through the noise and parent with a spine.

Quick Growing Pains trivia—those names felt like inside jokes. How did ‘Boner’ ever get past censors?

Writers entertain themselves to survive the room, so we smuggled in plenty, from Dewey Hooters to that infamous nickname, and the censors sometimes missed the slang.

You wanted a sports career. If you could pick a gig now, what would it be?

I wrecked my knee punting in college and pivoted, but I’d love to call Kings home games. I’m a hockey lifer—I’ve lost teeth, I enjoy playful goal calls, and I never miss PTI.

If you were giving a dad talk to the Vancouver rioters after the Canucks lost, what would you say?

Inside the arena the fans showed real class saluting Boston and Tim Thomas; outside was a mess that embarrassed a great city. The handshake line is a tradition other leagues could use more of, and yes, the series exposed toughness gaps—some even started calling Luongo ‘Lebrongo.’

Biggest celebrity-hockey perk you’ve ever cashed?

Suited up for All-Star warmups in 1988 with Gretzky was surreal, and I helped start a celebrity team with Alex Trebek that let us raise money and actually play. That’s the good stuff fame can buy.

Where’d you land on LeBron and those Finals?

Mixed feelings; the outrage over jokes and pressers gets silly. I leaned old-school for Dallas in the end, knowing LeBron would get more swings.

Always a blast—hockey tales, Trebek, and chaos in a limo—you brought it.

I’ll cap my story quota and apologize for our bad actors in Vancouver, plus the wasted beer. We love the game and the city; sorry that’s the image that lingered.