Lewis Black is the undisputed king of improvisational angst, frustration and honest, bewildered humor.

Ever since I first saw him popping up on “The Daily Show,” I knew I had found a replacement for the Denis Leary who by that time had seemingly left us for movies and hip stardom.

Black is invigorating and dependable in his political and social commentary. His humor is smart, but with enough Average Joe edge that it is not pretentious. It's because of his stand-up, I know, that even though the world might be filled with complete idiots, thankfully, I can pretend and act as if I were not one of them.

Which is why his new venture with Comedy Central, “Lewis Black's Root of All Evil,” is so difficult to write about. I feel like Judas, but without all the silver.

The show debuts on Comedy Central March 12 and stars Black in the role of a judge as he presides over a court that determines which of two subjects put before it are most evil. Whether it's “Oprah vs. the Catholic Church” or “Donald Trump vs. Viagra,” special-guest comedians will advocate before Black to try and convince him their subject is the most evil of all.

In clunky segments with names such as “Inquisition” and “Ripple of Evil,” we discover just how bad Comedy Central is in need of different guest comedians.

Remember when Roger Waters hosted “Hollywood Squares” back in 1984? Yeah? Because it never happened. There is not a sentence capable of describing how odd that would have been. Which is how this new show appears. Odd, and I felt awkward watching it.

Throughout the episode, I would give forced, polite laughs because I thought “something good is coming,” and I wanted to enjoy it with genuine laughter. But I ended up confused and uncomfortable during both episodes. It was like someone farted during the silent part of church.

You are not sure what to do. You can't laugh because it would be wrong, but you want to laugh because farts are funny.

Well, this show was neither funny nor particular stinky. It was just kind of lame. I get that they want to play off the idea of “The People's Court.” But the jokes in the show were stony and forced, and Black looked stiff and over-scripted. It was like he was trying to hit particular marks instead of just being funny.

One of the reasons why Black is so great as a comedian is because of the unpredictable nature of his routines. He'll just go off and all of a sudden he has grabbed you by the face and is shaking you while you are laughing uncontrollably. It's a great feeling to laugh like that, and Black is one of the few who can evoke that kind of response.

But from the episodes I saw, the show appears to be designed specifically so comedian Greg Giraldo will have someplace to work in between Comedy Central Roasts.