(S21E16) It's always tricky to try and mix comedy with Jerusalem. Unless you're willing to throw caution to the wind and risk offending various religious groups and individuals, you almost always wind up with something that's bland and lame. For 'The Simpsons,' cutting edge and risque seems to be a thing long in their past, and the latter product is what we got.

Everything from Sacha Baron Cohen's aggressive tour guide to the jokes and the storyline in general didn't work this week. I'm not sure if it's because the writer, Kevin Curran, was trying too hard not to offend Muslims, Jews or Christians, but he wound up wringing every bit of humor out of the episode.

Normally, at least one or two jokes can hit, even in a bad episode of 'The Simpsons,' but this one actually got painful to continue sitting through.

There is a chance the Jewish community might have been offended by Krusty loping into the Gaza Strip Club when Lisa explained to him that Jews don't believe in Hell. I'm not saying offending religious groups is the way to go. It's just that the Holy Land is such a sensitive area for so many groups, that people tend to either go straight for the shock factor, or pull so far back they skip being funny altogether.

I found myself wondering who thought of this concept and why the producers thought it was worth pursuing as an episode. There was really nothing offered in the episode, no good character moments for anyone, and no laughs. The tour guide was annoying, and his one-trick humor wore thin within the first few lines (though that is kind of Cohen's thing). Bart got to fight it out with his security detail, a little girl, in a scene that had no laughs.

In fact, that entire sequence was devoid of humor. The prayers in the wall weren't funny. Bart suddenly having his skateboard and skating along the wall with the girl in pursuit, after Homer choked him, wasn't funny or even all that clever. I don't expect 'The Simpsons' to have that sharp edge of wit it used to in its earlier, more subversive days, but I do expect it to be able to create situations for humor from time to time; even if it's gentle humor.

The 'Transformers' parody film: stupid. The Fiddler on the Roof being reminded he was hired to clean the gutters: mildly humorous, but wasn't he Russian? Everyone coming down with Jerusalem Syndrome: predictable. About the only attempt at a moment for the episode was Homer's speech that Muslims, Jews and Christians should seek out their commonalities rather than their differences. "Peace and chicken." At least that's something we can all agree on.