[citation needed] In 1979, he hosted and produced the first Pay-TV monthly series in history, Backstage in Hollywood on HBO, which originally premiered on CBS television in the mid-70s.
[citation needed] In the early 1980s, Sheehan produced and camera-directed Pippin (with Bob Fosse) starring Ben Vereen and Martha Raye-the first Broadway musical filmed by cameras during live stage performance, for Pay-TV, cable TV and home video.
While at KNBC, he was the first local entertainment reporter to host and produce his own series of network specials, including "Macho Men of the Movies" (with Clint Eastwood, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger) and "Hollywood's Leading Ladies" (with Julia Roberts, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sharon Stone and Barbra Streisand).
[citation needed] After college, Sheehan was a newspaperman with the United Press International syndicate, covering celebrities such as Frank Sinatra and his "Rat Pack" involvement in the 1960 John F. Kennedy presidential campaign.
His articles on philosophers Michael and Dennis Murphy covered 'Human Potentiality Movement' at Big Sur's Esalen Institute and discussed psychedelic experience guided by Sheehan's interview subjects Timothy Leary and Richard ("Baba Ram Dass") Alpert.