For decades, people have been complaining that Barbie dolls, advertising and other modern iconography have foisted an unrealistic and unhealthy body image on young girls. That may be true, but if Dr. Nigel Spivey, who plays host to the five-part series “How Art Made the World” (8 p.m., PBS), is correct, then the problem is much bigger than Madison Avenue. According to the show’s genial British host, we have been creating and admiring unrealistic depictions of ourselves since the dawn of human history.

If you think Angelina Jolie or Jayne Mansfield represents a hyperstylized version of female beauty, get a load of the Venus of Willendorf, a small statue created 25,000 years ago and endowed with huge breasts, stomach and buttocks. One expert theorizes that ancient man was “hardwired” to find such distorted images of females attractive and even sacred.

And women aren’t alone in being “objectified” by art. Spivey touches on Egypt, where the human figure was presented in a highly distorted two-dimensional manner for more than three millennia. And while the ancient Greeks mastered the art of realistic representation, they preferred highly exaggerated figures of heroes — not entirely unlike our contemporary worship of “ripped” physiques and Rambo-like he-men with six-pack abs.

It’s difficult to hopscotch over 30,000 years of history and not repeat yourself or fall into generalities, but Spivey does a good job of keeping the presentation lively and accessible.

¢ Presented over four hours and two nights “Guests of the Ayatollah” (7 p.m., Discovery Times, concludes Tuesday) looks back at the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis, when student radicals seized the American embassy in Tehran. The film includes interviews with former hostages as well as their captors.

A gripping day-by-day account, “Guests” also discusses how the crisis reflected a change in foreign policy from a Cold War worldview to the current struggle between the West and radical Islam. It also touches on the effect of the crisis on American politics and media.

Tonight’s other highlights

¢ Cowboys (Robert Duvall and Thomas Haden Church) pick up two new responsibilities on their drive to deliver horses to Wyoming in the conclusion of the two-part 2006 TV Western “Broken Trail” (7 p.m., AMC).

¢ “History Detectives” (8 p.m., PBS) looks into Confederate ephemera and Howard Hughes’ drill bit.

¢ Johnson looks into the shootings of three youth on “The Closer” (8 p.m., TNT).

¢ On three consecutive episodes of “American Chopper” (8 p.m.-11 p.m., Discovery), the Orange County Choppers build bikes in tribute to America’s military branches and POWs.

¢ A mysterious teen without a past confounds friends and authorities alike on the new series “Who Is Kyle XY?” (7 p.m., Family).

¢ A recurring nightmare enters Allison’s waking life on “Medium” (9 p.m., NBC).