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Saturday Night Live usually hits the mark, humour-wise, but when it misses, it can miss big time.

On Dec. 1, SNL mounted a skit called “Dad Christmas.” One blogger commented on it, “I don’t remember SNL ever sinking to this depth to disparage divorced dads in an attempt to provoke a laugh.” I agree. It was an act of vile misandry.

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The skit begins with two adolescent children enjoying a warm and festive Christmas with their mature, beautifully groomed and loving divorced mom. Then they are shown in an alternate Christmas scenario — with “Christmas Dad,” i.e. an allegedly generic divorced father.

It was an act of vile misandry

Christmas Dad lives in a sad-looking home somewhere in interior Florida (wink wink: deplorables territory). The kids arrive to find a bimbo in residence, introduced only by her first name. Both she and Dad chain-smoke in the house. The kids are unhappy, expressing longing for the “rules” their mother imposes. If ever a comedy routine was written to bludgeon its audience with contempt for an identifiable group, this is it.