Norman Lear hired Thicke to produce and head the writing staff of "Fernwood 2 Night", a tongue-in-cheek talk show based on characters from Lear's earlier show, "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman". In the late 1970s, he was a frequent guest host of "The Alan Hamel Show", a popular daytime talk show on Canadian TV, usually hosted by Alan Hamel. When the Hamel series ended in the early 1980s, it was replaced by "The Alan Thicke Show". The show at one point spawned a prime-time spinoff, "Prime Cuts", which consisted of edited highlights from the talk show. Thicke was later signed to do an American syndicated late-night talk show, "Thicke of the Night". Heavily promoted prior to broadcast as a competitor to NBC's "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson", "Thicke of the Night" was short-lived.