Before Eugene Levy was known as “Jim’s Dad” from the “American Pie” movies, he was on a television show called “SCTV.” Second City TV was no slouch of a show — it ran for seven years and in that time received 13 Emmy nods with two wins for writing.

Eugene Levy played characters like the absent-minded newsman Earl Camembert and the completely over-the-top Floyd the Barber, and always looked so damned convincing as people who were completely unaware of what was really going on. Catch an old episode of SCTV if you can (usually on when the pizza places are finally closing).

For now, we are all fortunate enough to see Eugene Levy in a writing roll — as well as starring role — in the Midnight Movie “Waiting For Guffman.”

Written along with Christopher Guest of Spinal Tap fame, the story centers on the production of the fictional play “Red, White and Blaine” and its principal players. These include travel agents Ron (Fred Willard, “How High”) and Sheila Albertson (Catherine O’Hara, “Beetlejuice”), Dairy Queen alum Libby Mae Brown (Parker Posey, “Josie And The Pussycats”), closeted Corky St. Clair (Christopher Guest, “Spinal Tap”) and cornball dentist Dr. Allan Pearl (Levy).

While rehearsing for the play, they are made aware that a representative from Broadway will be making his way down to attend their performance, getting everyone in all sorts of excitement.

Shot in the style of a documentary film, the camera catches the production with its ups and downs, but the real focus is on the interactions between the cast members. When Ron and Sheila go out to dinner with Allan and his wife, its great to see the expressions on the Pearls’ faces when Ron talks about the monkeys in China or when Sheila drunkenly slurs out to them why her husband had to get that “minor corrective surgery.” The musical numbers alone in “Red, White and Blaine” are good enough reasons to see this movie, (they were composed by the members of Spinal Tap — enough said).

Willard and O’Hara are great as the travel agents who have never left Blaine, and Willard plays the Robert Evans wannabe to a tee — smug enough to make him out to be a jerk, but not enough of a jerk that would make you want to punch him.

Levy is great in this movie playing the out-of-his-element Pearl who is convinced that he is a funny man. Watching him shuffling around to a bongo drum and chirping out horribly off-key songs during the audition shows exactly why he is just as funny now as he was back in his Second City days.

So long after the Badgers have played Ohio State and you’re recovering from the day’s festivities, go watch “Waiting For Guffman” — and then rent “Best In Show.” After this, know why calling Eugene Levy “Jim’s Dad” should be almost as embarrassing as actually liking “American Pie.”

“Waiting For Guffman” is showing Saturday at midnight in the main lounge of Union South.