Bozo first came to Detroit in 1959 on WWJ-TV channel 4. Bob McNea, who worked as a clown in various circuses, including the Shrine Circus, was hired to play Bozo. McNea's Bozo became very popular, expanding to two shows a day, and becoming the first children's program in Detroit to switch to color. However, there was friction with Larry Harmon. McNea played the character in a more genteel and subdued way than Harmon's playbook required, and McNea did the show without a live audience. After years of increasing the franchise fee, WWJ-TV ended the contract with Harmon in 1967. WWJ-TV kept McNea, who created his own clown character Oopsy, which continued on WWJ-TV until 1979. McNea then took Oopsy to CKCO-TV in Ontario where he continued for another 15 years.