‘Saturday Night Live’ re-watch: Justin Timberlake, ‘Veganville’ still very much work

There are some episodes of “Saturday Night Live” that are tiresome to watch a second time for a number of reasons. While the repeat bad episodes are a no-brainer, even some good ones fail upon repeat viewing. Why? The simple answer is that “SNL” at times veers towards sketches that are dated in a particular point in time, and sometimes headlines (including a cruise ship fiasco or specific events in government) are forgotten a few weeks down the road.

In some ways, the “SNL” hosted by Justin Timberlake from earlier this year starts off in such a way, as the Hugo Chavez opener is something that pertaining specifically to headlines around the political figure’s death. However, it really becomes more about the singer’s absurd Elton John impression than anything else, and we’re thrilled that this was not another instance of Jay Pharoah being Barack Obama. (No offense to his impression, but those sketches are often so-so at best.)

Ultimately, almost everything that we said about Timberlake’s show in our original review makes sense upon second viewing, which makes this edition airing again this weekend worth checking out for a second time. Pretty much everything from “Veganville” to the “Five-Timers Club” to the return of Stefon all makes for some good “SNL” moments, and they are not dated in a particular point in time. We especially find the re-teaming of Timberlake and Andy Samberg in “The Dating Game” even funnier the second time around, as do we watching Stefon to see if Bill Hader keeps it together.

Sure, there are still some low-lights, as the Caligula and “Cajun Justice” bits are both still pretty terrible. If you want to watch the episode here rather than tonight on NBC, we’ve embedded the full thing for you below. Meanwhile, you can also click here if you want to see the hosting lineup for the rest of the season.

Photo: NBC