A look inside Building 10
Jim Parsons (“The Big Bang Theory”) narrates “First in Human” (9 p.m., Discovery, TV-PG). If that title has a slightly sci-fi ring, that’s entirely intentional. This threepart, six-hour docuseries follows patients who enter the National Institutes of Health, located just miles from the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.
If you’ve arrived at the NIH, you are a medical mystery with ailments defying all known treatments. The term and the title “First in Human” describe the experimental, even risky, nature of the procedures undertaken at the NIH. Patients documented here are the first people subjected to new drugs and experimental approaches. Doctors are not only looking to cure an individual patient but also to develop the breakthrough medical devices and protocols that will help millions in the years to come.
This series represents the first time that cameras have been allowed inside the NIH’s legendary Building 10, the birthplace of many revolutionary medical treatments now considered commonplace. Chemotherapy for cancer was a product of Building 10, as were some of the earliest treatments for HIV/AIDS. Anyone who has ever taken lithium for depression has followed a treatment that was developed in this facility.
The series introduces viewers to researchers and physicians as it follows first-in-human patients throughout their entire trial.
PRIME-TIME ‘UPDATE’
Colin Jost and Michael Che host “Saturday Night Live: Weekend Update Summer Edition” (9 p.m., NBC). The halfhour prime-time news spoof will run for four weeks, leading up to the fall season.
“SNL” enjoyed a ratings boost last season. This is not the first Thursday night foray for the comedy series. It aired on Thursdays leading up to the 2008 and 2012 elections as well as for a few weeks in the fall of 2009.
PRESEASON KICKOFF
The Chicago Bears host the Denver Broncos in preseason football (8 p.m., NFL).
Viewers have more options when it comes to viewing and streaming NFL games. This season, Amazon Prime subscribers will have the ability to stream 10 Thursday night regular-season games. Amazon will stream the games carried on NBC and CBS, making them available for those without a cable subscription.