I don’t know why this is news, but apparently, wire service reporters have never heard the “F” word before.  Read on:

“Saturday Night Live” newbie Jenny Slate marked her Saturday night debut by dropping the f-bomb on air, uttering the four-letter word during a sketch she shared with veteran Kristen Wiig.

Slate, a New York comedian, was performing in “Biker Chicks Chat,” playing a foulmouthed motorcycle-driving woman clad in leather, when she dropped the curse word, which slipped by censors and was heard by East Coast viewers of the show.

“You frickin’ just threw an ashtray full of butts at  my head. You know what, you stood up for yourself and I f***in’ love  you for that,” Slate said to Wiig’s fellow biker chick in the skit.

Whether Slate’s expletive was intentional wasn’t clear, but the actress did puff out her cheeks after the swear word to indicate her embarrassment and apparent regret at her slip-up.

Other “SNL” castmembers to swear on-air include Norm MacDonald, who received a verbal warning for saying the F-word on-air, and Charles Rocket, who dropped the F-bomb in 1981.

It wasn’t immediately known if any disciplinary action was taken against Slate.

So, it’s weird to me that this is a big deal on a show that airs at 11:30 at night.  But, I suppose it will be.  It’s going to give a bunch of boobs who like to talk about the moral high ground the ability to discuss civility in American culture, and then in the next segment, be incredibly uncivil.

Even as we speak, Glenn Beck is probably in his lab, concocting his poorly thought out flow-chart about how saying the “F” word on SNL is somewhat worse than calling the President a racist.  And considering the FOX NEWS / MSNBC war that’s been going on since the election, I’m sure they’ll be lining up to talk about how this is the worst thing to happen in the history of television since we say Janet Jackson’s kermit eye.

In the meantime, here’s Shepard Smith saying the F word on Fox News.  So, enjoy this:

Equally classy.  Also an accident.

And now, let the tempest in the teapot begin.