In the annals of televison, few children's programs ever made as much impact as this show. Hosted by Robert Keeshan (at one time, he played Howdy Doody's friend, Clarabell) from the appropriately-named Captain's Place, the Captain was so named because he always wore an overcoat with large, kangaroo-like pouches. Each show featured stories, skits, vaudeville acts, songs, games, and other educational activities. Captain Kangaroo's friends were Mr. Green Jeans (who always brought an animal to the show); Dennis, an apprentice handyman and do-it-all person; and Mr. Moose and Bunny Rabbit. Bunny was always mute, but made his point ever-so-cleverly, while Mr. Moose always tricked the Captain into allowing him to stand under a shower of pingpong balls. As the show got on in years, new features were added, including Uncle Backwards (a tape of some simple action, such as peeling an orange or building a doghouse, shown in reverse).
At the end of each episode, the Captain always encouraged parents watching the show to spend some quality time with their children every day, and he often demonstrated various creative ways in which to do so. Later that changed to him saying, "Well, what would you like to do today? You know it could be a good day for..." then a song would sing many different things while short film clips of each thing are presented, then the song ended with the singers saying, "There's so much to do. These things are just a few." Then it would cut back to the captain who would end with, "So whatever you do, have a great day." 

On the first show of every month, the Captain had a birthday cake for all of the children with birthdays that month.