That cartoon is “the tribulations of Bill Nye”. The TV series is Numb3rs. The show’s creators, Nick Falacci and Cheryl Heuton got the idea for the series after attending a lecture by Bill Nye
bill nye. referenced in the strip, and to quote wiki
Nye has guest starred in several episodes of the crime drama Numb3rs as an engineering faculty member. A lecture Nye gave several years ago on exciting children about math was an inspiration for creating the Numb3rs show.
The Quiz Foundation of India (Chennai) 
The idea for the show Numb3rs came when the creators attended the lecture given by Bill Nye the Science guy.
That cartoon is “the tribulations of Bill Nye”. The TV series is Numb3rs. The show’s creators, Nick Falacci and Cheryl Heuton got the idea for the series after attending a lecture by Bill Nye
bill nye. referenced in the strip, and to quote wiki
Nye has guest starred in several episodes of the crime drama Numb3rs as an engineering faculty member. A lecture Nye gave several years ago on exciting children about math was an inspiration for creating the Numb3rs show.
Bill Nye, the Science guy!
Thats the cast of Numbers ..
Nye appeared on an episode helping Charlie and Larry crack some case…