New reality format will avoid growing pains

CBS has enlisted Alan Thicke to host the network's "American Idol meets The Office" reality show "The Singing Office."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, "The Singing Office" is based on a popular Dutch format. In each episode, producers choose two companies and force the employees to do vocal auditions. The five best singers from each office are sent to Hollywood for a quick round of styling and training. Then they sing in front of an audience. Then the audience votes. The most gifted office wins a cash prize.

Whee.

In 2003, Thicke required 30 stitches and dislodged five teeth after getting whacked in the face by a hockey puck. That has nothing to do with "The Singing Office," but we like mentioning it.

Thicke is a musical sort. While he's probably best know as the paterfamilias on "Growing Pains," he also wrote the theme songs for "The Facts of Life," "Diff'rent Strokes" and "Wheel of Fortune." Thicke did a stint on "The Bold and the Beautiful" earlier this year and co-hosted NBC's "Celebrity Cooking Showdown."