> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.theomnicosm.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Everything you need to know going into ‘SNL’ Season 52 - URL: https://www.theomnicosm.com/the-cold-open-snl-season-52-preview/ - Published: 2026-09-19T14:00:20.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-19T14:00:19.000Z - Description: We have new cast members. We have Ashley Padilla. And we have Jeremy Culhane as JD Vance. - Author: Bill Kuchman - Tags: The Cold Open • Extras, The Cold Open, SNL, Lorne Michaels, Chloe Fineman, Saidah Belo-Osagie, Grace Reiter, Jane Wickline, Shane GIllis, Ashley Padilla, Jeremy Culhane One week from tonight, we’ll all be sitting on our couches, waiting for the local news to end so that **Jalen Brunson** can host the first episode of *SNL*’s fifty-second season. Well, maybe I’ll be on my couch working on the newsletter as the clock creeps toward 1 a.m. while loyal **The Cold Open** readers will get the scoop on the season premiere the following morning. No matter your preferred mode of watching *SNL*, the show returns next Saturday. Between the end of Season 51 and the beginning of Season 52, **Lorne Michaels** made a few slight cast adjustments, but nothing like we saw after the show’s milestone fiftieth season. As always, I’m excited to jump into a new season of *SNL*. (If I wasn’t excited, I wouldn’t be writing **The Cold Open**.) I want to see how the new cast members fit in. I want to see how last year’s rookies jump into their second season. I want to see how **Ashley Padilla** follows up her phenomenal sophomore season. ## Sign up for The Cold Open Love reading about **Saturday Night Live*? Get ****The Open** newsletter in your inbox. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### Who left? Not counting **Bowen Yang**, [who left during Season 51](https://www.theomnicosm.com/this-is-my-last-shift-bowen-yang-says-farewell-to-snl-as-ariana-grande-hosts/), **Chloe Fineman** was *SNL*’s [only off-season departure](https://www.theomnicosm.com/the-cold-open-snl-chloe-fineman/). Fineman spent seven seasons on the show, but it’s hard to argue that her heart was in it if you watched last season. She missed an episode while in Europe and would often laugh her way through sketches. In the wake of[**Heidi Gardner**](https://www.theomnicosm.com/wait-snl-chose-to-not-renew-heidi-gardners-contract/) and [**Ego Nwodim**](https://www.theomnicosm.com/ego-nwodim-exits-snl/) leaving *SNL* after Season 50, Fineman could’ve established herself as the show’s go-to female cast member. She seemed to be more focused on snagging brand deals on Instagram. ### Who joined? **Saidah Belo-Osagie** and **Grace Reiter** [are our Season 52 rookies](https://www.theomnicosm.com/the-cold-open-snl-belo-osagie-reiter/). Michaels added four new cast members last season in addition to promoting Please Don’t Destroy’s **Ben Marshall** to the show’s roster. Wanna dive deeper into this SNL preview? Sign up for ****Free Access**, ****The Cold Open+** and ****The Omnicosm+**. To read this edition of ****The Cold Open**, please upgrade your membership or [sign into your account](https://www.theomnicosm.com/signin/). [Upgrade your subscription ](#/portal/signup/free) I’m not familiar with either Belo-Osagie or Reiter, but I do recognize Reiter from her time on [**Tim Robinson**](https://www.theomnicosm.com/its-time-for-tim-robinson-and-marc-maron-to-host-snl/)’s *The Chair Company*. My wife also instantly offered her praise for Reiter after seeing that she had joined the cast thanks to Reiter’s social media work. also from the omnicosm [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f4/8b/f48be8ca-23c6-4d81-b0cf-da2fb0785911/content/images/2026/08/square-rebrand-new-1.png)](https://www.theomnicosm.com/popculturology/) Love what you’re reading? You might also enjoy ****Popculturology**, a deep-dive into the world of movies, television and more. **Already a subscriber?* [**Update your settings*](https://www.theomnicosm.com/snackology-review-mountain-dew-baja-leo/#/portal/account/plans) *to add* ***Popculturology** *to your inbox.* [Read the latest from Popculturology ](https://www.theomnicosm.com/popculturology/) ### Who got promoted? After resisting the groundswell push to have Padilla promoted to *SNL*’s main cast during Season 51, Michaels bumped both her and **Jane Wickline** up from featured status going into Season 52. Padilla is a no-brainer. Wickline has really grown on me over the last season. I love her *Weekend Update* songs, and her deadpan delivery in live sections has become a signature move of hers. ### Who’s hosting? NBC has announced [the first four hosts](https://www.theomnicosm.com/the-cold-open-snl-hosting-brunson-johnson-gillis-navarrette/) for Season 52, with Jalen Brunson (Sept. 26), **Dakota Johnson** (Oct. 3), **Shane Gillis** (Oct. 10) and **Inde Navarrette** (Oct. 31) kicking things off. With an NBA Finals MVP to his name, Brunson makes total sense for the premiere considering the New York Knicks are the reigning champions. Who might show up with Brunson? **Mariska Hargitay**? [**Timothée Chalamet**](https://www.theomnicosm.com/timothee-chalamet-and-hamilton-return-to-snl/)? **Ben Stiller**? Mayor **Zohran Mamdani**? Johnson’s *Verity* hits theaters on Oct. 2, so her second hosting gig is perfectly timed. Hopefully [**Justin Timberlake** and **Jimmy Fallon** stay far away from this one](https://www.theomnicosm.com/dakota-johnson-hosts-snl-but-justin-timberlake-and-jimmy-fallon-steal-the-spotlight/). Navarrette is still riding high after *Obsession*. She’s [joined the cast of Marvel’s upcoming *X-Men* movie](https://www.theomnicosm.com/popculturology-disney-d23-2026/), and she has a very real shot at an Oscar nomination. And now we get to Gillis. The best explanation I have for why and how Gillis is hosting *SNL* for his third time is that Michaels is still livid that the universe forced him to fire Gillis before he could even appear in an episode. No one tells Lorne Michaels what to do. So we’re gonna have to eventually watch Gillis awkwardly join the Five-Timers Club just so the *SNL* creator can prove a point. ### How does Ashley Padilla follow up last season? Where does Ashley Padilla go from Season 51? During her sophomore season, Padilla turned in a run unlike anything we’ve seen on *SNL*. She became the show’s main character. “Having a breakout sketch or even a run of successful episodes isn’t unheard of for an *SNL* cast member,” [I wrote in May](https://www.theomnicosm.com/the-cold-open-snl-ashley-padilla-top-sketches/). “But keeping that momentum going for an entire season is something we haven’t seen in the modern era of *SNL*. With a large cast fighting for screentime, Padilla’s ability to repeatedly turn episodes into her own personal highlight reels is impressive. Even more impressive? Padilla had her breakout season as a featured cast member.” Now Padilla is a fully promoted cast member. (I assume she gets new business cards.) The bar is extremely high. Will she finally snag a recurring character? Will she reunite for [another surprise sketch with **Ryan Gosling**](https://www.theomnicosm.com/the-cold-open-snl-review-ryan-gosling/) when he inevitably hosts the season finale to promote *Star Wars: Starfighter*? ### Will SNL unleash Jeremy Culhane as JD Vance? **James Austin Johnson** is in a tough spot when it comes to his stellar portrayal of **Donald Trump**. It’s the best version of Trump we’ve ever seen on *SNL*. I’d say it ranks behind only **Anthony Atamanuik**’s take on Trump. But we’re all so very tired of Trump. There’s no good way to poke fun at gas hitting $6 a gallon when that’s happening in real life. For 90 minutes as Saturday night turns into Sunday morning, we need a break from Trump. So *SNL* needs to pivot to **Jeremy Culhane**’s **JD Vance**. For reasons I’ve never understood, *SNL* has never turned the vice president into a full-blown character. “Most absurd of all, *SNL* all but passed on spoofing JD Vance despite his awkward trips to donut shops, cat lady comments and, um, the couch *thing*,” [I wrote in *POLITICO Magazine* in 2024](https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/12/26/9-political-trends-that-died-in-2024-00195593?ref=theomnicosm.com). Yang appeared as Vance a few times, but the bare minimum of effort was put into those sketches. *SNL* once allowed **Jason Sudeikis** to turn then-Vice President **Joe Biden** into a fully formed character. Culhane won me over with his impersonation of **Tucker Carlson**. It’s time for him to do the same with Vance during Season 52. And when Vance runs for president in a year or two, we can all groan when Michaels takes Vance away from Culhane and gives the character to whichever celebrity can show up at Studio 8H once a week for a few months. 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