More than 2,000 people have complained about BBC's sitcom-by-numbers Citizen Khan. If I was Muslim I'd complain too. Because it's simply not funny. And that's what makes it offensive more than the badly-drawn characters in their cartoon Pakistani accents overacted for zero comic effect.
I think I first heard a Brit-based foreigner complain about 'bloody immigrants' to get a laugh in Mind Your Language in the 1970s and it wasn't that funny then. But even though I've only seen one episode of Citizen Khan, guess what? The dad lamented all those bloody foreigners again. Oh how we laughed.
But that's not offensive in itself. What's offensive is making a trendy, supposedly ethnically-friendly comedy that does not raise a laugh. Why? Because it does not have to be like that.
Every religion, every minority, every ethnic group is perfectly capable of laughing at itself in a way that neither offends those it is laughing nor alienates those outsiders looking in.
I bet we all know Catholics or have Irish friends who think Father Ted is hilarious, Indians who get Goodness Gracious Me, Scots who love Billy Connolly and so on. I even know a black man who thinks Lenny Henry's funny but he's the only person of any colour who does, as far as I can tell.
You don't have to be Jewish to like Curb Your Enthusiasm, Woody Allen, Mel Brooks (who else can make Hitler funny) and it's not being anti-semitic if you laugh at Old Jews Telling Jokes. Though anyone who so much as smirks at Adam Sandler, the world's unfunniest Jew (present company excepted) should be shot.
But the point is, Jewish humour is based on stereotypes, often exaggerated, that we all recognise. And as long as they are funny they are not offensive.
Even when they're not funny, they are not necessarily offensive, if the character is rich and colourful and not a one-dimensional caricature. Shylock, Fagin, Dr Legg. Okay, maybe not the latter.
The Sopranos had one Jewish character of note, a crim who lent money to Tony but his Jewishness and the fact he was a moneylender were both noted with dry sarcasm within the plot. The only Jew I can remember from The Wire was the crooked lawyer. But that's fine. He was a great character.
What's offensive is not being able to mine the deep vein of humour that runs deep in any religion or ethnic group. Muslims did it with East is East. The main character is that was called Khan too. But it took the mickey out of a range of Islamic traditions - forced marriage, circumcision, banning pork - and made it funny. Muslims laughed. We all did.
Unfortunately the BBC decided they wanted to fulfil their ethnic quota by commissioning a Muslim comedy and chose the first one that came through the door. It was rubbish but as a friend of mine, who used to work at the Beeb told me, the average commissioning editor at the corporation only knows seven people really well and none of them are likely to be Muslim to bounce an opinion off.
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Talking of offensive, there's an advert on Tube platforms that says none of the swear, tears, cheers and amazing achievements of the Olympics would not have been possible without....Visa, Samsung, ATOS and a load of others.
So sod all those who gave up four years of their lives to take part, all the fans who queued for hours to pay for tickets for a massive taxpayer-funded event. It was nothing to do with you, but the good folk who make Head & Shoulders or something.
And while we're at it, does anyone seriously believe that British Airways really wanted no one to fly with them during the Olympics or was it just a calculated stunt to make them look nice and cuddly but ends up making them look like cynical, exploitative, corporate suits? Cunning stunts.
Must fly...Solly
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