Five women compete for the crown of “Funniest Mom in America” (9 p.m., Nick at Nite). Sandra Bernhard plays host to this amateur standup showcase. The winner will receive a cash prize of $50,000 and a chance to develop a television pilot.

While this sounds almost as contrived as the winner of “The Starlet” getting an acting shot on “One Tree Hill,” the notion of a comedy routine turning into a hit show is not that farfetched. After all, “Roseanne” was developed from Roseanne Barr’s raucous rants and “Everybody Loves Raymond” was born after Ray Romano impressed David Letterman with material based almost entirely on the foibles of fatherhood.

A panel of “experts,” including actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner, writer Carole Leifer (“Seinfeld”) and casting director Jodi Collins, evaluate each woman’s act. Don’t look for Simon Cowell crankiness here. Everybody gets a rave.

If “Funniest Mom” has a fault, it’s the show’s attempt to shoehorn the women’s natural funniness into the standard standup format. These women don’t need consultant Jeffrey Ross, described here as a “comedian’s comedian,” to tell them how to be amusing. The era of the standup-driven, punch line-clustered sitcom is as dead as vaudeville. People don’t want rim shot-laden dialogue. They want funny stories. And at least two of these women know how to tell them.

Tonight’s other highlights

• Amy quits the bench and mulls a run for the Senate on the sixth-season finale of “Judging Amy” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-PG).
• A Constantine-less quintet performs on “American Idol” (7 p.m., Fox, TV-PG).
• Rory interns at a newspaper on “Gilmore Girls” (7 p.m., WB, TV-PG).
• Longitudes and attitudes on “The Amazing Race” (8 p.m., CBS).
• A 12-year-old shows dangerous symptoms on “House” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
• Benson and Stabler track a serial rapist on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-14), followed by a related episode of “Law & Order: Trial By Jury” (9 p.m., NBC, TV-14) in which Kibre (Bebe Neuwirth) collaborates with Benson and Stabler.