I don't get this joke

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"Outnumbered" from BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressr ... sode.shtml has a running joke in series one about a "supposed 'racist' comment" and it seems to me that the humour of the running joke relies on the Hugh Dennis character not having made a racist comment, and not being a racist.

The comment was to tell a fat, muslim boy that he wishes it was Ramadan all year.

I think that comment from teacher to people would be offensive, so the running joke is not funny for me. Am I missing something, or am I just too easily offended?

In any case, it's not racist because Islam is a religion, not a race.

Since Ramadan is celebrated by fasting, the joke is actually about the child's size, not religion or ethnicity. It depends on the person whether or not this would be offensive. The running gag in the show may be the fact that the other people can't actually identify what it is about the comment that would have been offensive, they just know that on some level it could have been.

The choice of wording "supposed 'racist' comment" is not mine, but in the plot summary and dialogue, although it makes very little difference to my question.

I find the comment, from a teacher to a pupil, to be offensive. Therefore the running joke, which seems to rely on the innocence of the Hugh Dennis character, falls flat for me. I actually like the show, which is just being broadcast for the first time here.

So, am I easily offended (i.e. that comment, teacher to pupil, is acceptable) or am I missing something?

Sounds like you're easily offended. Then again, I'm not offended by anything.