“Some people claim ‘it’s just a joke’,” she continued, “but there’s nothing amusing about taking away good role models for young boys.” Yes there is. Once again, she’s strayed into untruth. For example, when Homer Simpson says “Mmm… floor pie” on seeing a slice of pie on the floor, that is amusing and yet he is not being a positive role model. The negative role models Siobhan Freegard has commissioned a report to complain about do amusing things all the time.

What there is, for practical comedy-writing purposes, “nothing amusing about” is good role models: a caring, conscientious father who doesn’t get into scrapes – that’s the stuff of government information films, not funny programmes. And the “useless dad” may not be a fair reflection of society but, if it was complete invention, the characters wouldn’t resonate. Accident-prone Daddy Pig, or Hugh Dennis’s hapless character in Outnumbered, may not be representative examples of modern fatherhood but they obviously strike a chord or those shows wouldn’t be watched by millions.

This report is at once joyless and opportunistic. It seeks to say something headline-grabbing and preachy to garner positive coverage for a website, and is content for some of the finest products of the noble human urge to amuse and entertain to be the victim. There are many things wrong with humanity but I’m fairly sure that funny sitcoms and cartoons about family life aren’t among them.