in the 1950s, cottle began a career in television as a host for children's tv shows, often appearing as "captain bob." one of his first shows, "the nature world of captain bob" began in hartford, connecticut, it was a thirty-minute saturday morning art instruction program offering sketching techniques for wildlife subjects and set in a sea shanty. later, in 1953, the show moved to boston, massachusetts, where it ran for another 14 years.