Nothing nice to say: 'The Jeff Dunham Show'

I'd never heard of comic/ventriloquist Jeff Dunham before press tour this summer when Comedy Central introduced him to TV critics and he bombed in a flopsweat of hurled invectives.

But evidently he's popular somewhere: Dunham's Comedy Central special last year drew 6.6 million viewers, the network's most-watched program ever. Now there's "The Jeff Dunham Show" (9 p.m. Thursday, Comedy Central), a weekly dose of Dunham's wooden characters who are all unlikeable and offensive in different ways.

Grumpy old Walter has a homophobic streak, Achmed the Dead Terrorist, a skeleton with the catchphrase "I kill you," is a little bit racist (his impression of President Obama: "I am not a Muslim, dawg.") and Bubba J is obsessed with guns.

Why do I imagine that if you looked at the demos of where Dunham is popular it would parallel the demos of the audience that made Jeff Foxworthy a star with his "You Might Be a Redneck If...." humor?

In the new series, Dunham comes out in front of a studio audience with his creations and they do some banter, none of it all that amusing although the audience seems into it, and then he tosses to a taped segment.

I don't mind offensive when it's genuinely funny or satirical -- "South Park" has been offensive from day one and it's still one of the most cogent, topical shows on TV -- but Dunham's humor didn't make me laugh. And worse: I could see his lips moving.