Over the past few months, millions of us have received a COVID shot or shots. It was a rare instance when nobody asked us for payment or insurance forms. The documentary “Critical Care: America vs. the World” (10 p.m., PBS, check local listings) looks at our nation’s health care system and some of the inequities baked into it, and compares it to public health systems in other countries.
“Critical” begins in Houston, home to some of the most innovative medical facilities in the world. We meet a young child with a failing heart who is treated with an unprecedented procedure and assured a long and healthy life. Not far away, in North Houston, a neighborhood of poor and uninsured people find themselves sick and dying of entirely preventable diseases. Because they are uninsured, they avoid care and seek medical attention only in the direst moments, often too late. On average, residents of this neighborhood die 20 years before their time.
The hosts of “Critical Care” then travel to other countries, including the U.K., Switzerland, Australia and Canada, where a medical safety net has been established and where the idea of being “too poor” to seek medical care seems barbaric.
Simply put, those countries cover everyone’s health care and do it more cheaply than we do. Why can’t we do the same?
The recent distribution of COVID vaccines suggests the need for something Americans used to take for granted. “Critical Care” politely ponders the possibility that this crisis might spark renewed efforts to restore and repair a public health care system.
What it does not discuss are the deeply entrenched cultural and political attitudes that prevent the expansion of health care to those in need. The state of Texas, cited here, has repeatedly rejected the expansion of Medicaid, a program that could offer better and affordable health care to those residents profiled in the beginning of the program. There are 10 other states that have done this as well. Simply put, expanding public health runs up against a culture of indifference to poor people. On second thought, indifference might be too polite a word.
— “Zero” debuts on Netflix. Presented in Italian with English subtitles, it stars Giuseppe Dave Seke as a young, Black, second-generation Italian man who dreams of being an artist, but finds his real calling when he discovers his ability to make himself invisible.
— It’s been nearly 35 years since Sally Field delivered her “You like me!” speech while accepting her best actress Oscar for the 1984 drama “Places in the Heart” (midnight, TCM, TV-14).
Field, who also won an Oscar for “Norma Rae,” practically grew up on television, appearing in “Gidget,” “The Flying Nun” and the acclaimed TV movie “Sybil,” which established her as a serious actress in many people’s minds. She remains busy, having appeared in 10 episodes of the 2020 AMC series “Dispatches From Elsewhere.”
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— The New York Yankees host the Atlanta Braves in Major League Baseball (6:30 p.m., ESPN).
— A case dredges up sour memories on “Chicago Med” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
— “Nature” (8 p.m., PBS, TV-PG, check local listings) explores the sharks of Hawaii.
— A mysterious savior earns scrutiny on “Chicago Fire” (9 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
— A serial rapist eludes justice on “Chicago P.D.” (10 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
— Sophie struggles to get through her audition on “A Million Little Things” (10 p.m., ABC, TV-14).
CULT CHOICE
Oscar-nominated for “Nomadland,” Frances McDormand won a best actress statuette for the 1996 Coen Brothers black comedy crime saga “Fargo” (10:05, Sho2).
SERIES NOTES
“The Price Is Right at Night” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … A two-hour helping of “The Masked Singer” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … Erica dates a guy from the coffee shop on “The Goldbergs” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … A professor holds the clues on “Kung Fu” (8 p.m., CW, TV-PG) … A family gathering on “Home Economics” (8:30 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
An unscheduled visit on “SEAL Team” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-14) … Mark is burned out from overstudying on “The Conners” (9 p.m., ABC, TV-14) … Clues abound on Moonstone Island on “Nancy Drew” (9 p.m., CW, r, TV-PG) … Danny wants to date on “Call Your Mother” (9:30 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … Hondo ponders his allegiances on “S.W.A.T.” (10 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
LATE NIGHT
Ed Helms and Susan Page drop by “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (11:35 p.m., CBS) … Jimmy Fallon welcomes Elisabeth Moss, James Cameron, Carlos Vives and Ricky Martin on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) … Christine Baranski and Melissa Villasenor visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC).
