“Gym Teacher: The Movie” (7 p.m., Nickelodeon) is as funny and silly as its title, and that’s saying a lot. Cast against type as a failed Olympic gymnast turned middle school physical-education instructor, Christopher Meloni (“Law & Order: SVU”) makes the most of a goofy, slapstick character.

The film begins with a broad parody of ESPN blooper segments featuring Chris Kattan. He plays an overheated announcer introducing a clip from the 1988 games of the ridiculously coiffed Dave Stewie (Meloni) ending his dreams and providing 20 years of painful laughter with a crash with the vaulting horse.

Flash forward to today, and Stewie is the most beloved teacher in his school. But a White House-endorsed contest to find America’s finest gym teacher provokes bad flashbacks and performance anxiety. Amy Sedaris (“Strangers with Candy”) goes way over the top as the school’s deranged principal, Abby Hoffman, teetering under a Phyllis Diller wig. Nathan Kress (“iCarly”) appears as Roland, a nerdy, uncoordinated student who blossoms under Stewie’s guidance. Roland also happens to be the overprotected son of Winnie Bleeker (Chelah Horsdal), the widowed English teacher who sends Stewie into flights of amorous fantasy.

In a comedy this broad, the plot is almost inconsequential. But viewers will enjoy the film’s many details which range from the clever to the deliriously dumb. If the sight of Meloni in tight black shorts and white knee socks doesn’t make you laugh, then you may already be dead. Stewie and his fellow gym teachers spend their off hours at a juice bar, drowning their sorrows in blended fruit cocktails. David Alan Grier (“In Living Color”) hams it up as a rival teacher for the snooty Burberry Prep, a school so rich their kids ride to school in stretch Humvees. In a nod to a cracked entertainment universe, the most dangerous contraband a student can harbor in his locker is not drugs but pirated DVDs. It’s worthy of instant suspension.

“Gym Teacher” sends up the sports movie genre without the cruelty and profanity of films like “Dodgeball” or “Semi-Pro.” It keeps its heart in the right place and remains suitable for audiences of all ages. Young viewers may not get all of the jokes or follow a story so focused on eccentric adults, but parents of the Nickelodeon set will welcome this departure from typical tween antics.

Even the show’s central product placement is from back in the day.

This is not Meloni’s first stab at offbeat comedy. He appeared in “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” and really distinguished himself as a deranged summer-camp chef in the silly 2001 low-budget feature “Wet, Hot American Summer.”

Tonight’s other highlights

Note: Listings may vary due to local sports coverage.

¢ On two episodes of “Ghost Whisperer” (CBS), a link to Melinda’s long-lost father (7 p.m.), a medium is the message (8 p.m.).

¢ Eva Longoria Parker hosts the 2008 ALMA Awards (7 p.m., ABC). America Ferrera (“Ugly Betty”) is named entertainer of the year.

¢ Cesar counsels a labrador with an inordinate fear of buses on “The Dog Whisperer” (7 p.m., National Geographic).