The kids on “Fame” wanted to live forever, but they were young and under the influence of stage paint and leg warmers. Who in their right mind would want to loiter for that long? Barbara Walters hosts “Live to Be 150 … Can You Do It?” (9 p.m., ABC).

More than just another show on fad diets or plastic surgery, “Live” looks at breakthroughs in science that may enable an increasing number of people to blow out 100 or even 150 birthday candles. Some experts believe that we are fast approaching a day when nobody has to die of “old age.”

The show looks at ways you can extend your life span, including a radical reduction in calories. Walters talks to Paul Newman, a Hollywood heartthrob who makes turning 83 look easy, and visits a nursing home where a 100-year-old saxophone-playing gent has sparked a romance with a younger woman, 94. Cradle robber!

The show wraps up with a glance at the implications of people living twice as long as they do today. Stephen Dubner, co-author of the book “Freakonomics,” sifts through some of the mind-numbing questions about Social Security, Medicare, wills and inheritances. On one hand, living longer will prove expensive, but think of the gain on an IRA that accrues interest for 90 years!

It’s interesting that Walters invites an economist to discuss a subject better suited to a philosopher, a clergyman or a poet.

¢ Sundance begins a monthlong festival of documentaries about environmental awareness with “Big Ideas for a Small Planet” (8 p.m., Sundance), a series of profiles of people using alternative methods to harvest energy from the sun, the wind and even the manure left behind by their dairy cows.

“Garbage Warrior” (8:35 p.m., Sundance) profiles visionary architect Michael Reynolds, who has spent three decades building self-sustaining houses out of discarded objects, including beer cans, wine bottles and old tires.

¢ After spending nearly five hours last week dissecting the steps and missteps behind the war in Iraq, “Frontline” (8 p.m., PBS, check local listings) returns with “Bad Voodoo’s War,” a moving look at a company of California National Guard soldiers as they return to Iraq to be part of the surge in 2007.

You can’t help but be touched by the dedication of these men to their country and to each other. One soldier volunteers out of the sense that he can’t leave his comrades behind. Some of the men are on their fifth or sixth tour of duty. One scarred soldier has lost six friends, and his belief in God, to the war. An officer and veteran of wars in the Balkans and the Gulf puts a “Tickle-Me-Elmo” in his pack to remind him of his kids back home. “That toy has been in more countries than most people can spell,” he says.

Tonight’s other highlights

¢ Is an “American Idol” (7 p.m., Fox) without Chikezie Eze worth watching?

¢ Jamie Kennedy guest stars on “Reaper” (8 p.m., CW).

¢ “Hell’s Kitchen” (8 p.m., Fox) enters a new season. The DVD of the first season goes on sale next week.

¢ Horatio faces charges in Brazil on “CSI: Miami” (9 p.m., CBS).

¢ Wayne tries to help Hugh fight his funk on “The Riches” (9 p.m., FX).