Saturday Night Live Season-Premiere Recap: Jalen Brunson Was SNL’s Team Player

Saturday Night Live
Jalen Brunson
Season 52 Episode 1
Editor’s Rating ★★
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Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson was a major reason that this summer in Mamdanistan felt like magic, thanks to leading the Knicks to their first championship in 53 years. It makes sense, then, that he would host Saturday Night Live’s season premiere. Brunson’s not an actor, but between the high of Knicks feverdom and the excitement of the show coming back, hosting was set up to be a slam dunk (I’m sorry). Even if he didn’t feel as comfortable performing, he’d have the benefit of a cast and writing staff that’s been relatively free of shakeups, with a high likelihood of cameos from teammates. It would be impossible not to have good energy during the show, which can often carry an episode. Plus, hosting SNL has got to be way less pressure than winning a championship, right?

The night started promisingly with Brunson crushing his monologue, aided by the energy of the crowd and his fellow Knicks in Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Josh Hart making an early appearance. And while Brunson isn’t a natural performer built to lead a sketch show, the vibes were great — but the inconsistency of the writing got in the way of what could’ve been a really solid night. 

Don’t get me wrong: the highs were high! The pre-tapes were very funny, and Brunson’s starring role in the High School Musical parody made me wish we had gotten another Brunson-led pre-tape. But there were also lows, due to no fault of Brunson, who did relatively well for a non-actor, in my opinion. His performance playing himself as an undercover office employee, and his line read of “Am I, bitch?” surprised me in the best way. But the night felt overly reliant on the audience’s excitement about the Knicks’ champions being in the building. Brunson was pushed off to the side in other sketches, which wouldn’t have been that big of a deal if the sketches themselves had been stronger. The airport massager sketch had Brunson in a supporting role to Mikey Day, whose commendable job committing to the bit couldn’t keep it from being one-note. I felt similarly about the parent-teacher conference sketch.

If this feels harsh, it’s because I thought last season’s premiere was pretty good! And because the writing staff is more stable than it’s been in the past couple of seasons, even with two exits and two additions — I expected better material to kick off the season. The cast, also, seems to be filling the void from the mass exodus of the last couple of seasons. Ashley Padilla and Jane Wickline have been bumped up to the main cast, and the other featured players are back, with Saidah Belo-Osagie and Grace Reiter joining them. It’s a young, fresh crowd, with more digitally savvy new hires. This could be a really fun year. I hope this episode was enough to shake off the summer cobwebs.

Here are the highlights: 

Dream Academy

In this pre-tape, we get a glimpse into the second season of Dream Academy, the reality show that put Katseye on the map. This time, though, there are two oddball contestants in the mix: Duff (Jane Wickline) and Margle (Grace Reiter). Both make it onto the show after witnessing the show’s creative director (Ashley Padilla) hit a guy with her car. So many laugh-out-loud lines, wonderfully absurd and specific character details, and an all-too-brief but delightful Brunson as a choreographer with frosted tips. Reiter’s character’s brash self-assurance, along with her expressive face and physicality, really complement a deadpan Wickline. I hope to see more of them as a duo this season. Veronika Slowikowska’s delivery of “Tomato orphanage!” also really made me laugh.

North High

Another excellent pre-tape, this time in the form of a High School Musical parody. Jake (Jeremy Culhane), the team’s Troy Bolton, welcomes a new transfer student (Brunson). It turns out the transfer is way, way better at basketball. The side-by-side of Brunson’s stone-faced disposition with Culhane’s sunny musical theater cheer is funny on its own, but Brunson’s deftness in messing around with him really sells it. He may not be an actor, but as an athlete and team player, he can for sure pull pranks. He pants Culhane with a passion that makes me believe that other Knicks players have gotten pantsed during practice. And it wouldn’t be High School Musical without, well, the music. Ending with Brunson’s character serenading — and stealing — the love interest (Slowikowska) felt like the perfect ending.

Jane Wickline as Dario Amodei and Jeremy Culhane as Tucker Carlson on Weekend Update

This episode’s monologue jokes were some of the weakest I’ve seen in a while. Even Colin Jost and Michael Che didn’t seem to like them. Especially after seeing SNL U.K.’s really good Macklemore/Ed Sheeran monologue go around online, it feels a little deflating to see a boring Netanyahu joke and the T-slur onscreen (why?). Thank god for both Jane Wickline and Jeremy Culhane stopping by the desk for funny, clear, and joke-heavy characters.

Wickline came on as an increasingly flustered Anthropic CEO, Dario Amodei, who’s explaining why AI is dangerous, without taking any responsibility for that. Wickline’s Amodei tries to bullshit through Che’s questions, but can’t do it without fighting himself via an internal monologue that ranges from stern and clear-headed to a flailing hiss. Wickline’s performance is so precise and funny, and the strong point of view makes the satire all the more biting: how bizarre and contradictory it is for tech titans to continue to develop AI while claiming it’s going to kill us all.

Jeremy Culhane as Tucker Carlson is always a delight, and it’s hard not to laugh every time he interrupts Jost with a high-pitched guffaw. Calling the millimeter “the gay inch” will be rolling around in my head for a minute. 

Shark Tank: Respectables

Two guys (Culhane and Ben Marshall) pitch their invention on Shark Tank tailored to men who struggle with being respectful: glasses that beep to remind the wearer to stop staring at boobs. Brunson, in a cartoonishly large hat, plays an interested investor, asking if they can expand the glasses to also clock butt staring. Solid sketch all around: The premise is a funny way to riff on the creepiness of Meta glasses, the costume design is great, and Brunson does well playing a character not based on himself. The ending feels a little abrupt to me, and I wouldn’t have minded one more beat in there to round it out. 

Young Rell’s Crew

In his monologue, Brunson said the best sketch of the night would come last, and he meant it. This was the best live sketch, but it didn’t even make it to air. Brunson plays a rapper justifying paying everyone in his entourage to his accountant (Padilla). You can tell that Brunson has an ease to him by this point in the episode, and it is fun to cycle through every weirdo in his entourage, including appearances by Reiter and Belo-Osagie. 

Cut for Time

• Big fan of both Grace Reiter and Saidah Belo-Osagie! I’m looking forward to when they get to do their solo pieces on Weekend Update. 

• Katseye! The vocals were a little … well. But it’s about the experience?? I loved the outfits, and I wanted to dance, so I’ll take it. 

• I want more of Ramy Youssef’s Mamdani TikToks. 

• “We met on the app.” “Okay, what app?” “Taskrabbit.” 

• Things I can do without: Kristi Noem dog jokes, anything about Chris Brown, referencing SubwayTakes. 

• Veronika Slowikowska is a beautiful singer???