We get it. You love Saturday Night Live, but you love sleep (or going out on the town) (or choosing when you watch SNL) more. Consider this your cheat sheet for last night’s episode of Saturday Night Live, now streaming on Peacock. 

Saturday Night Live Season 52 Premiere: 9/26/26

Host: Jalen Brunson

Musical Guest: Katseye

Cast Movements: First show for new cast members Saidah Belo-Osagie and Grace Reiter.

Celeb Cameos: Ramy Youssef returned to Studio 8H to once again play (his IRL pal) Mayor Zohran Mamdani in the cold open.

For his first ever SNL monologue, host Jalen Brunson brought on four of his teammates from the history-making New York Knicks: Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Josh Hart.

Musical guest Katseye played themselves in a pre-recorded sketch that lampooned their origins in the Netflix series Pop Star Academy: Katseye (which coincidentally launched “Nicole Kidman” singer Adéla).

SNL Sketch of the Night: The Mamdani-Trump-Natalie Harp Cold Open

The SNL Cold Open: After a long summer off, Saturday Night Live returned strong with a cold open that satirized many of the major political and pop cultural trends of their hiatus. Ramy Youssef reprised his role as Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whose time filming TikToks alerting New Yorkers to shelter in place during this weekend’s Nor’easter is interrupted by the arrival of President Trump (James Austin Johnson).

What really sent this cold open over the edge, however, was the late-sketch arrival of SNL slugger Ashley Padilla debuting her latest portrait of unhinged white womanhood: Trump aide Natalie Harp. Harp made headlines this summer when Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff suggested that Trump was more interested in “spending time with Natalie” than seeing to his Presidential duties. Reports then circulated about Harp’s intense proximity to the President, including a photo of her chasing after his motorcade on foot. Saturday Night Live‘s writers have interpolated these facts and rumors to transform her into a blonde version of Nikki (aka summer breakout and upcoming October 31 SNL host Inde Navarrette) from the hit flick Obsession.

SNL Sketch of the Night Runner Up: “Newton’s Cradle!”

As we mentioned before, Katseye play themselves in a funny send up of pop star training groups and… the laws of physics? Both newbies — Saidah Belo-Osagie and Grace Reiter — appear in the sketch, with Reiter announcing herself as a natural comedic partner for SNL standouts (and frequent collaborators) Jane Wickline and Veronika Slowikowska. We dare you not to think of Newton’s Cradles differently after watching this one.

How To Watch Saturday Night Live For Free:

Sure, you can rummage through YouTube for last night’s SNL clips, but if you want the full experience, you’re going to need NBC’s go-to streaming site, Peacock.

Peacock currently offers two subscription types: Premium with ads and Premium Plus ad-free. Peacock Premium costs $12.99/month, while Premium Plus costs $19.99/month.

You can save a bit by subscribing to one of Peacock’s annual plans, which give you 12 months for the price of 10. These cost either $129.99 with ads or $199.99 without ads.

Peacock Premium Plus is also available to subscribe to via Prime Video with a seven-day free trial that you can’t get by subscribing directly on Peacock.

When Does Saturday Night Live Come Back?

The next all-new episode of Saturday Night Live comes out Saturday, October 3, 2026 with host Dakota Johnson and musical guest Turnstile. 

Here is a complete rundown of who is SNL hosts and musical guests for the 2026-2027 Season:

• Season 52 Episode 1 — September 26, 2026: Jalen Brunson with Katseye
• Season 52 Episode 2 — October 3, 2026: Dakota Johnson with Turnstile
• Season 52 Episode 3 — October 10, 2026: Shane Gillis with Rosália
• Season 52 Episode — October 31, 2026: Inde Navarrette with Gracie Abrams