Why did SNL's extremely unfunny cold open give short shrift to the Matt Gaetz scandal?

Slate

The "Britney Spears Talk Show" cold open didn't lead off with the biggest political story of last week. "It’s still a landmark moment in television history, because if 'a Republican with a pompadour goes on Fox News and does such a horrible job of denying sex trafficking allegations that Tucker Carlson gets mad at him' is no longer a shoo-in for a dedicated cold open, then SNL really has changed since the election," says Matthew Dessem, noting that Gaetz, played by Pete Davidson, didn't show up until the end of the sketch. He adds: "As nice as it is to see SNL switching their formula up a little bit, there’s always the danger of overcorrection. Imagine how quickly the country would collapse if Republicans came to believe that the only way to get an SNL cold open all to themselves was to be more of a disaster than Matt Gaetz!"

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