Alan Thicke reveals all in Unusually Thicke

You can either listen to Jian's chat with Alan Thicke by clicking on the listen button, or watch it in the window below. 

Canadian-born performer Alan Thicke went from being a talk show host and producer to a comic actor and a beloved TV dad on the long-running sitcom Growing Pains. Now the man behind Dr. Jason Seaver is introducing us to his real life family with the new reality TV show, Unusually Thicke.

The cameras follow him, his wife Tanya and their teenage son, Carter, and captures the joy of fatherhood, the mess of parenting, and the drama of family life.

• Tanya's side of the story: Alan Thicke's wife speaks to Jian after the show
• Canada Reads 2011: Alan Thicke defends Ken Dryden's The Game

"The Growing Pains series and that character is what I would aspire to be, if I were a better person," laughs Thicke, who brings his real parenting skills -- including granting "incremental freedoms" to the fore in his new show.

Thicke also highlights a few key tensions, like his wife Tanya's desire to have a biological child with her husband of 15 years. (She elaborated after the show.)