The members of Katseye perform, and two new cast members join the show.

Saturday Night Live recap: Host Jalen Brunson stars in multiple basketball-themed sketches in season 52 premiere

The members of Katseye perform, and two new cast members join the show.

By Andy Hoglund

Andy Hoglund

Andy Hoglund is a writer at **. He has worked at EW since 2019.

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on September 27, 2026 1:53 a.m. ET

Host Jalen Brunson (center) with Marcello Hernandez and Katseye. Credit:

Rosalind O’Connor/NBC

As Z105’s Joey Mack would say, “And we’re back!” It’s *SNL* in Review; welcome to season 52.

Tonight, Knicks hero Jalen Brunson takes his first spin as host, with Katseye making their debut as the musical guests, while newcomers Saidah Belo-Osagie and Grace Reiter join the cast. Yes, Chloe Fineman is officially off to greener pastures after seven seasons at Studio 8H, leaving, one might say, a very Chloe-shaped hole for the new crop to fill. Honestly, I will miss the core Snack Homiez crew, but Chloe, as a performer and even an impressionist, never quite synced with me, despite showing early promise.

Sports figures as hosts, dating back to the likes of Fran Tarkenton, have a mixed record at the show. Sometimes they reveal a sneaky funny side… but other times, it can be regrettable. Olympic freestyle skier Jonny Moseley has been cited among the worst *SNL *hosts of all time due to his obscurity and lack of acting experience. Former cast member and current *Pay to Die* star Jeff Richards was there for Moseley, as well as when Yankee Hall of Famer Derek Jeter came to host. He remembers: “Nothing tops David Wells during the Yankees Wives sketch.”

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Thinking about other athletes that he has done comedy with, Richards also offers: “Lightweight professional boxer Gio Cabrera joined Gary Busey on my podcast a few months back. I highly recommend folks check that out for a laugh!” For athletes that he *wishes *had come on *SNL*, either during his time or even before, he offers: “Muhammad Ali would have been the best of all time.” For tonight he concludes: “Jalen Brunson made a great cameo during the Emmys this year, so he’ll be a natural. He’s already a New York icon.” Yes, that’s the spirit!

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Alright, it’s been a long, hot summer, Conehead nation. I’m rejuvenated, recharged; I’m back and ready to recap. Let’s see what they’ve got.

It’s a Nor’easter at Gracie Mansion in New York City. We see Mayor Zohran Mamdani (Ramy Youssef) filming a silly TikTok PSA to alert the public about the storm’s perils. Yes, instantly — season 52 has started, and the celeb casting crutch is in full effect.

James Austin Johnson’s President Trump comes by for a visit. They discuss their curious friendship (or is that Trump’s one-sided crush?), as well as the Knicks championship, AI, and Iran.

Suddenly, Trump gets a visitor at Gracie Mansion in this wild storm. Who is it? A wet, drenched Natalie Harp (Ashley Padilla), complete with references to horror films *Obsession *and *Weapons*. She’s more than a little bit jealous of Trump’s fixation on the young mayor, having just sprinted to this meeting from D.C. “Hurt him, and I will end you,” she snarls. Good work by Padilla and Johnson as always. Youssef returning feels unnecessary, given what little he has to do here. Obvious, but fine work.

Brunson promises that tonight will be like the Knicks finals games. The first three-quarters will be god-awful, but the last sketch will be amazing. I will take a classic 10-to-1 tonight!

Brunson welcomes one of his haters to the stage — Stephen A. Smith (Kenan Thompson). Previously, I think Chris Redd played Smith on the show. Fellow Knicks starters Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Josh Hart are called on from the audience for some light ribbing, then join Brunson on the stage. As Brunson himself notes, he’s a bit stoic and stiff in terms of delivery.

“Office MVP”

Some office workers are goofing around playing trash basketball. Darius (Brunson) misses the “last shot of the game,” failing to toss a piece of balled-up paper into a wastebasket. Everyone moves on, focused on a federal grant they submitted. But Darius is not deterred, and keeps trying to make the shot. “You’re bad at basketball, man!” cries his frustrated boss (Mikey Day), slapping him several times. Darius has an entire pile of pink paper still, and he admits something: he isn’t Darius, he is actually Jalen Brunson. He wants to be not just NBA famous, but an “office shooter” — very awkward phrasing! Finally, gloriously, he sinks one as the studio goes wild. The camera pans out to show him triumphant, surrounded by audience cheers. Cool shot.

“Dream Academy: Season 2”

Season 1 found Katseye. Can lightning strike twice? We meet the silly new finalists, who are only on because they witnessed a traffic accident featuring the exasperated show executive (Padilla).

The crowd responds to seeing Grace Reiter on screen. She thought Dream Academy was a place to actually control dreams. Veronika Slowikowska is giving me Chloe Fineman vibes here; her Me As A Girl alter ego/summer project may have been more than a pop star parody! Rounding out the contestants is a markedly more animated Jane Wickline. She’s a full-fledged cast member now (as is Padilla). Interesting to see her play off her *Stapleview* co-star Reiter.

They sing their song “Newton’s Cradle” with Katseye.

“Men’s Support Group”

Brian (Kenan Thompson) admits it: his girl was brought on stage at the Chris Brown and Usher tour. Six songs in, Usher fed his wife cherries in the front row. Philip (Brunson) has a similar issue: he wasn’t there, but found a TikTok reel of his girl. He spent $1,200 on the meet-and-greet, but didn’t think she would actually “greet his meat.”

Ben Marshall notes: this kind of stuff does not happen at Noah Kahan concerts.

“North High”

A transfer student (Brunson) asks to join the school basketball team. He is turned away until Jeremy Culhane’s Jake welcomes him in, and starts to sing. Brunson’s actual skills quickly undercut the music. Jake is eventually very frustrated and decides to quit basketball to do theater. Well, Brunson is better than him at that too, and takes his girl (Slowikowska).

“Airport Massage Chairs”

Padilla’s father is in the hospital, and her cheap boyfriend (Andrew Dismukes) opted for the janky airline home. Two men (Day, Brunson) are in Relax XPress massage chairs making loud “porno” moans. They’re getting complaints from other trapped passengers. Day is relieving tension from his long travel day, screaming wildly for his co-worker David. It’s a bit sexual and aggressive work by Day. Meh skip.

Katseye performs “Animal”

“Animal” is the second single from the global girl group’s third English EP, *Wild*. Kind of a retro sound, with a burlesque visual aesthetic for the performance.

“Weekend Update”

Our favorite anchors, Colin Jost and Michael Che, discuss Donald Trump and Xi Jinping holding a summit in Washington, Trump TV, and Benjamin Netanyahu. As Che notes, the crowd is not fully on board, at least not as things get underway. Jost jokes about “Cattio” being part of the Katseye set.

Anthropic boss Dario Amodei was alarming on a recent press tour. Amodei (Wickline) comes out to reassure us that AI will not kill us all. He is forthright: he is against what he is doing, and blacks out thinking about the positives around AI. He urges us to urge him to stop, using a voice like Gollum.

Box office hits this summer made a lot of money. “It’s movie time… and abandon Christian values!” says conservative commentator Tucker Carlson (Culhane). He loses his train of thought, asking himself a lot of questions around *Obsession *and the new *Paw Patrol* and *Minion *sequels. Fun.

“Parent-Teacher Conference”

Cousins Maurice and Lulu are the essential support system for a mother in a parent-teacher conference. It’s a ‘lurve’ triangle, they met on TaskRabbit. The teacher (Marshall) wants to focus on Liam’s reading comprehension, but the group just wants to chat about their eccentric lovemaking.

Katseye performs “Hootie Frutti”

Katseye’s recently released single, “Hootie Frutti,” fuses Brazilian funk and pop, powered by an infectious, Latin-leaning beat. Not for me.

“Shark Tank”

The invention “Respectables” helps fight the patriarchy, glasses that keep men from leering at breasts. It literally beeps when a man’s gaze lingers… but during the pitch, the “fem-ventors” (Culhane, Marshall) keep tripping over themselves.

James Austin Johnson is hilarious as Kevin O’Leary here.

Coach Dennis (Thompson) taught Jalen back in third grade for three games over 20 years ago. He showed him his gun and had a drinking problem. He has a sob story and plans for a porno. These are the kinds of strange requests big stars get.

Fun work by Kenan and Kam Patterson here. Brunson playing himself again, not ideal.

Final thoughts

- Welcome back! What did we think of their season premiere? Vote.

- Thank you to Jeff Richards for his comments tonight. And please rent *Pay to Die* on Amazon and Fandango. Jeff stars in it while also co-producing and providing the music. It is directed by Lauren Francesca and Shawn C. Phillips. Jeff says: “It’s a crowd-funded movie about a crowd-funded movie. People pay to be in, then they die. It’s got laughs, it’s got some scares, it’s perfect for anybody who enjoys Troma-style filmmaking. And check out Robert Carradine in one of his final performances.”

- So many guests tonight you can barely see the cast in the goodnights! James Austin Johnson points out Grace Reiter, who helps Saidah Belo-Osagie be seen as we wrap the episode. Reiter definitely got more at-bats tonight in her first show.

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Source: “EW SNL”