(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.