In 1980, he starred in the second season of the nationally syndicated American situation comedy, "The Baxters". On the series, McCann played Jim Baxter, a middle-class father of three children living in a suburb of St. Louis. Originally produced by Norman Lear in its first season, the series was the first "interactive sitcom" of its kind, wherein the first half of each 30-minute episode presented a vignette dramatizing the events in the lives of the Baxter family, and the second half was an "instant analysis" talk show segment, giving a live studio audience and guests an opportunity to express their opinions about the topic being presented that week.