 McCann worked his way up to regional star status by apprenticing on a number of other children's shows, such as "Captain Kangaroo" in the 1960s.The best-selling "The First Family", an early 1960s LP record album which lampooned the newly elected United States President John F. Kennedy and his family, included McCann among its voices.Until 1975, McCann hosted comedy/variety TV puppet shows in the New York area with Paul Ashley, featuring the Paul Ashley Puppets.