The cable movie “Underfunded” (9 p.m., USA) arrives with an interesting premise. What’s it like to be a secret agent from a less-than-superpower? Mather Zickel (“Reno 911”) stars as agent Darryl Freehorn of the Canadian Secret Service. The agency has such a low profile that he’s forced to say, “Yes, they have one, too” every time he introduces himself.

“Underfunded” begins with the kind of scene that comes at the end of every James Bond movie. Darryl infiltrates a bad guy’s island lair, gets away with the deadly weapon and watches the evildoers blow up while he and a lovely fellow spy dangle from a rope ladder attached to a helicopter lifting them to safety in the general direction of the sunset. Only in this case, when Darryl puts his moves on the lady, she explains that she’s in a “committed relationship.” So they’re left dangling awkwardly for the 45 minutes it takes to reach the aircraft carrier. This scene is done perfectly, presenting the film’s wonderful combination of spy derring-do and personal and national inferiority complex.

The film’s title is also a running gag. Darryl’s office looks like it’s located above a coffee shop. His station chief is more interested in expense accounts than finding bad guys. Their computer relies on a dial-up connection. “It’s just like the CIA,” observes Darryl, “if the CIA was run on the budget of a Payless shoe store.”

All of this budget-cutting forces Darryl and his assistant to take a Greyhound bus between Ottawa and Washington. But it also forces him to live by his wits, and this allows him to outthink his American colleagues at every turn. In fact, for all of its “Get Smart” humor, “Underfunded” enjoys creating absurd differences between Americans and Canadians. And Americans don’t exactly look good. CIA agents come off as blond, vain, arrogant and overly dependent on technology and military hardware. And the American government seems eager to kick butt first and gather intelligence later, if at all.

But the humor is mostly at the expense of shows like “24” and the kind of Jerry Bruckheimer movie thrillers that make absurd use of technology and explosions at the expense of character development. If, like me, you’ve found each “Mission Impossible” movie duller than the last, then “Underfunded” is for you.

In a perfect world, “Underfunded” would be a pilot for a sitcom. But in a perfect world, Canadian spies would not have to ride the bus.

Tonight’s other highlights

¢ Jake and Eric venture out of town in search of medicine on “Jericho” (7 p.m., CBS).

¢ Liz gets an unwanted mentor on “30 Rock” (7 p.m., NBC).

¢ A desert burial ground yields grim secrets on “Bones” (7 p.m., Fox).

¢ “Secrets of the Dead” (7 p.m., PBS, check local listings) sifts evidence left from a dogfight over Guadalcanal.

¢ Kate fears for Sawyer’s life on “Lost” (8 p.m., ABC).

¢ The boys on “Mythbusters” (8 p.m., Discovery) test the legend of a flyable glider made of concrete.

¢ Urban paintball turns deadly on “CSI: NY” (9 p.m., CBS).

¢ Egan makes plans for a card party on “The Nine” (9 p.m., ABC).

¢ “Top Chef” (9 p.m., Bravo) puts the emphasis on calorie counting.