> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.layeredentertainment.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # SNL Season 52 Premiere Recap: Jalen Brunson Hosts a Night Full of Range - URL: https://www.layeredentertainment.com/snl-season-52-premiere-recap-jalen-brunson/ - Published: 2026-09-27T15:26:25.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-27T15:26:25.000Z - Description: Right from the cold open, this premiere showed a cast full of range, from returning favorites finding new footing to two rookies who already look comfortable on that stage. By the end of the night, it was clear this season has real chemistry to build on. - Author: Alivia Arliss - Tags: Watched, snl, jalen-brunson, grace-reiter, saidah-belo-osagie, jeremy-culhane, Comedy, nbc ### Cast Shakeups Behind the Scenes Ben Marshall and Ashley Padilla both got real screen time this premiere. This year, Ashley Padilla and Jane Wickline were the two bumped up to repertory status.¹ Padilla played Natalie Harp opposite Ramy Youssef's Mayor Mamdani in the cold open, his second time in the role after debuting it back in November.² Jane Wickline also got a notable turn playing AI executive Dario Amodei during Weekend Update.³ --- ### Jalen Brunson Held His Own as Host For an athlete, Brunson did a great job. They brought out other Knicks players to ask him questions during his monologue,⁴ and the sketches were tailored to him somewhat, with basketball being the focus of two sketches. One was a High School Musical parody featuring Jeremy Culhane as the standout cast member, and it was hilarious.⁵ --- ### The New Cast Is Already Finding Their Footing Grace Reiter showed out in a sketch pretty early on in the night, a Katseye tie-in called Dream Academy.⁶ Saidah Belo-Osagie was also featured in that same sketch, but not to the same extent. Reiter was also in the last sketch of the night, and without saying much, she is funny. She has staked her claim as the raunchy member of the cast. --- ### Standout Sketches and Performances A sketch taking place at the airport is always a win and relatable, especially when Mikey Day did his best to make Jalen Brunson break. It was nice to see Andrew Dismukes again too; he is so funny and always elevates a sketch, if even just with small facial expressions and reactions. Weekend Update did a great job of recapping what was most popular and in conversation while they were on hiatus. Jeremy Culhane, reprising his role as Tucker Carlson, absolutely crushed it.⁷ He was also in the Shark Tank sketch at the end of the night, and I am so glad he got the screen time he did, because it is well deserved. Ben Marshall also got a lot of screen time, and I think this is because he is a good actor who can jump into any type of sketch and be either the straight man or the funny guy of the scene. I was not able to find anyone who's actually tracked screen time per cast member for this episode, but my guess is that Jeremy and Ben ranked higher than most veteran cast members, which lines up with what's being written about the show so far. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ab/e4/abe46c16-d00d-48eb-a4c3-4d0258671c94/content/images/2026/09/maxresdefault.jpg) Photo by LateNighter ### The Goodnights Never Miss As usual, the goodnights are my favorite part of the night. Seeing the camaraderie and joy on that stage gives me a feeling I can't describe, only made more emotional by the band playing in the background. It was so cool to see [Grace Reiter and Saidah Belo-Osagie](https://www.layeredentertainment.com/snl-season-52-cast-shakeup-reiter-belo-osagie/) excited at the end of the night. That is not always how it goes your first year, they should be pumped they got some screen time. I am looking forward to the rest of the season. --- **Sources** 1. Wikipedia, "Saturday Night Live season 52" — en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday\_Night\_Live\_season\_52 2. NBC Insider, "Ramy Youssef's Zohran Mamdani Hangs with Donald Trump in SNL's September 26 Cold Open" — nbc.com/nbc-insider/ramy-youssef-snl-trump-mamdani-cold-open-watch 3. Deadline, "'SNL' New Cast Members: How Season 52 Introduced Them" — deadline.com/2026/09/snl-new-cast-members-season-52-skits-1237114592 4. NBC Insider, "Watch Jalen Brunson's SNL Monologue & Sketches from the September 26 Premiere" — nbc.com/nbc-insider/watch-jalen-brunson-snl-monologue-sketches-september-26-premiere 5. NBC Insider, "Watch Jalen Brunson's SNL Monologue & Sketches from the September 26 Premiere" — nbc.com/nbc-insider/watch-jalen-brunson-snl-monologue-sketches-september-26-premiere 6. Deadline, "'SNL' New Cast Members: How Season 52 Introduced Them" — deadline.com/2026/09/snl-new-cast-members-season-52-skits-1237114592 7. Boston.com, "'SNL' recap: Best of Jalen Brunson's episode (Sept. 26, 2026)" — boston.com/culture/entertainment/2026/09/27/snl-recap-season-premiere-jalen-brunson