It's Snow Problem

An enthusiastic young scientist, Dr. C (short for Cecilia), and her trusty assistant and computer-whiz, Mike, discover a mammoth who had the misfortune of falling into a glacier 45,000 years ago.

Once defrosted, the mammoth, whose name is Phil, takes his modern friends back to the prehistoric days of Woollyville by spinning tales of how he and his friends bumbled their way to scientific progress through trial- and a lot of error.

Phil's best pal was a human, 11-year-old Cro, the smartest kid in town, who figured out how to make things, work and whose knowledge was fed by his mammoth friends- the brilliant and beautiful Ivana; Esmeralda, the matriarch of Woollyville; Earle and Mojo, the village curmudgeons; 11-year-old Pakka, who's always spouting big ideas; and a five-year-old hellion named Steamer.

Although he regarded the mammoths as his true companions, Cro was adopted by a clan of lovable but hapless Neanderthals, whom he was always rescuing from one crisis or another. They included Nandy, the one-toothed woman famous for her "mung" recipe; Ogg, who liked to think of himself as clan leader; the compassionate and sensitive Gogg; and the monosyllabic Bobb.

The series switches back and forth between Phil's adventures with Cro in the Ice Age and his modern-day life with Mike and Dr. C., providing young viewers with lessons in problem-solving and illustrating the workings of simple machines, tools and gadgets- everything from wheels to windmills.

Phil, Cro, Mike, Dr. C, Nandy, Gogg, Ivana, Esmeralda, Earle, Jojo, Pakka, Steamer, Ogg, Bobb

21 episodes were produced for the series, which ran until 1995.

Dr. Gerald Wheeler, who served on the advisory board for the series, later became executive director of the National Science Teachers Association.