Sometimes a glance at gruesome history can make you grateful. “Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer” (8 p.m., PBS, TV-PG, check local listings) looks at the breakthroughs in medicine and public health that have allowed all of us to lead longer, healthier and more productive lives.
“Nasty, brutish and short” were once the words to describe the average life and life span. Written by philosopher Thomas Hobbes, born in 1588, they could easily describe life right up to the early 20th century, when the life span of the average American barely budged above 30.
Many lived to a ripe old age. But widespread infant mortality and childhood fatalities dragged the average life span down to levels that barely improved upon medieval times.
Over four Tuesday evenings, “Extra” will examine four explanations for revolutionary changes since 1900. Each chapter: “Vaccines”; “Medical Drugs”; “Data” and “Behavior” examine breakthroughs and profile doctors and scientists who made them possible.
Tonight’s installment, “Vaccines,” could not be more timely. It also contains some remarkable stories. From ancient times to roughly the 19th century, smallpox killed roughly a half million people a year.
Curiously, the earliest weapon against the scourge came from the most unlikely source. When a smallpox epidemic hit Boston in 1721, Puritan theologian Cotton Mather asked his African slave, Onesimus, if he had ever contracted the disease. He answered, “Yes and no,” and went on to describe the African practice of variolation, exposing patients to just a tiny amount of smallpox pus, a procedure that protected more than 90% of those treated. While Mather went on to espouse the gospel of variolation, he met with violent resistance from those who refuse to submit to a practice brought over from “savage” Africa.
Later on in the century, Edward Jenner would introduce vaccination, the use of the milder cowpox pathogen to protect against deadlier smallpox infection. And even this had resistance from some quarters who saw it as “defying God’s will.” America’s most prominent public scientist and intellectual embraced Jenner’s approach. He happened to be the president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson.
“Extra” explores the paradoxes of medical breakthroughs. Jefferson extolled the virtues of reason and science, but also reflected the values of his time. His first subjects for his vaccine experiments were his slaves, powerless individuals that he owned. The theme of power and class runs through this history of medical breakthroughs, explaining the persistence of anti-vaxxers and the fear of being used as a “guinea pig.”
The fascinating hour also includes a concise description of the current COVID vaccines and how they differ from earlier treatments. The COVID shots don’t use other pathogens, but reflect revolutionary breakthroughs in genetic coding that have occurred just over the past two decades. They aren’t so much a vaccine as a “software download,” a bit of code that tells the body how to fight the virus.
An engaging blend of medical science and history, this is highly recommended.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— A baby shower unravels on “The Resident” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
— The main squeeze on “FBI” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
— A figure from Kevin’s past arrives on “This Is Us” (9 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
— A killer evades capture on “Prodigal Son” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
— Toxic avengers on “FBI: Most Wanted” (10 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
— Max stresses sustainability on “New Amsterdam” (10 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
— Shocking news for Scarlet on “Big Sky” (10 p.m., ABC, TV-14).
CULT CHOICE
— Poorly received by audiences and critics, the 1970 drama “Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon” (8 p.m., TCM) stars Liza Minnelli, Ken Howard and Robert Moore as patients who bond at an institution and decide to set up house together. A supporting cast includes Fred Williamson (“Black Caesar”) and Nancy Marchand, best known as Tony’s mother, Livia, on “The Sopranos.”
SERIES NOTES
A misplaced laptop had interesting owners on “NCIS” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-14) … Chairs swivel on “The Voice” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-PG) … Four seasons of fur on “Pooch Perfect” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … Timeless Wells arrives on “The Flash” (8 p.m., CW, TV-PG).
Driving a point home on “black-ish” (9 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … Frightful visions in the Phantom Zone on “Supergirl” (9 p.m., CW, TV-PG) … Paul works an angle on “mixed-ish” (9:30 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
LATE NIGHT
Michele Buteau is booked on “Conan” (11 p.m., TBS) … Jimmy Fallon welcomes Joel McHale and Thalia on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) … Amy Adams, Stacey Abrams and Ashe visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC).
