Well, this week marked pop star Justin Timberlake's fifth appearance as host of Saturday Night Live, earning him an induction into the SNL in-joke that is the Five Timers Club. In that time, he's built up a pretty big roster of memorable guest shots and classic sketches. The good thing about a Timberlake show is that the show typically pulls out all the stops when he appears, and this week's episode was no exception: the whole first half of the episode was pretty much a celebration of the show and its history, which is the kind of thing I love, and there were more guest stars than I've ever seen in a single sketch together.

I was actually pretty amazed when Jimmy Fallon didn't show up to do a "Barry Gibb Talk Show" sketch, because I thought that was pretty much a given at this point. Very few of the sketches were all that funny this week -- a few of them had more than their share of laughs, but there were a whole lot of repeats -- but as an SNL nerd, there was too much history and nostalgia here to not have a good time with it. The episode reunited The Three Amigos, for crying out loud.

Sketch Highlights

• "Justin Timberlake Five Timers Monologue" - This was far from the best episode of Saturday Night Live of recent years (it's not even the best episode that Timberlake has hosted), but this "Five Timers" sketch felt like history being made. Not because Timberlake is now a Five-Timer, but because it just has SO MANY guest stars from the show's past: Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, Martin Short, Alec Baldwin, Tom Hanks, Dan Aykroyd, Paul Simon, Candice Bergan. Just incredible. Unfortunately, none of them (save maybe for Hanks and Baldwin and definitely Martin Short) got to be very funny, almost like just having everyone there was enough and the awkward pacing and numerous dead spaces should be overlooked. Chevy Chase was kind of embarrassing, and while lip service was paid to Drew Barrymore and John Goodman (other Five Timers), where was Elliot Gould? I swear he was a Five Timer back when Tom Hanks was inducted. That was another problem with this sketch -- it was basically just a repeat of the same sketch from 20 years ago. Still, as an SNL fanboy, it was fun to see everyone. (Watch the "Justin Timberlake Five Timers Monologue" video)

• "Nuva Ring" - In an episode full of sketches I should have loved, this one ended up being my favorite. The style and the aesthetic is right on, and all of the women are very funny in it. Vanessa Bayer's reaction shot when using the bling ring was subtle and perfect, and just when I thought that was going to be the rest of the sketch, it went a different way. Still, that punchline ("...And, yeah -- it does hurt!") was gold. I guarantee this will be rerun some time in the next month. (Watch the "Nuva Ring" video)
• "It's a Date" - In some ways, "It's a Date" was the night's strongest sketch, which I say despite the fact that it wasn't very funny. It had the most scale, bringing back Andy Samberg to reunite with Timberlake as their "D-ck in a Box" characters, as well as having Dan Aykroyd and Steve Martin play the swinging Czech Brothers. Some of Samberg's lyrics ere funny, and I was happy to see the show put them into a different context -- a sketch instead of a standalone Digital Short -- but the sketch had some problems, too. Aykroyd seems uncomfortable with character comedy, which is completely crazy because there was literally no one better at it in the late '70s. Bobby Moynihan had some funny reactions as the only single contestant, but, as my wife pointed out, the sketch would have gone into the back-patting stratosphere if Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan showed up as the dancing Butabi brothers. After all, jokes work better in threes. (Watch the "It's a Date" video)
• "Caligula" - See, the problem with this episode is that any sketch that wasn't "Hey! Remember this? Isn't Saturday Night Live a lot of fun?" felt a lot like "Caligula" -- which is to say that it fell about as flat as most of the sketches this season that don't have the advantage of 38 years' worth of guest stars. It was short, which was nice, and some of the reactions were kind of funny (Aidy Bryant's was the best, and possibly the only thing she got to do all week), but it was mostly kind of lame. And as my wife pointed out, do an inordinate number of sketches have to do with sex every time Timberlake hosts? It sure feels that way. (Watch the "Caligula" video)
• "Weekend Update: Stefon on Spring Break" - I don't normally include segments from "Weekend Update" in these write-ups, but a few of the actual sketches weren't made available on the NBC site this week (because of music copyrights), so I've got to turn elsewhere. This "Stefon" installment wasn't any better than any past one, because they're all pretty much the same. But ever since the revelation that writer John Mulaney puts jokes into the teleprompter for Bill Hader to read live on air for the first time, I've enjoyed these segments a lot more. The lists are all funny. "Those shoes nurses wear." Nice. (Watch the "Stefon on Spring Break" video)
• "Maine Justice" - This was a sketch that debuted on the Jamie Foxx episode back in December, so it's not really surprising that SNL is already repeating it just a few months later. With the novelty gone, it doesn't work as well. It was kind of funny the first time because it just didn't make sense; this time, it's all established and all that's left is a collection of mostly ineffective jokes. Nice to see Andy Samberg stepping in for another sketch, but Timberlake felt like he was trying too hard. (Watch the "Maine Justice" video)
• "Romantic Comedy" - I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, Saturday Night Live is so very good at approximating every beat of this kind of marketing, and so it needs to be appreciated and respected just for its construction. On the other, it was a one-joke sketch, and that sketch just involved saying that a woman has a penis over and over. Timberlake plays the part really well, and Nasim Pedrad (in her only showcase of the night) does a great deconstruction of every romantic comedy girl, but the writing never matched the quality of the direction. Fred Armisen doing a cameo as Eugene Levy was a nice touch. (Watch the "Romantic Comedy" video)
• "Moet and Chandon" - Another repeat sketch, another sketch that's entirely about getting laughs from sex and dirty talk (apparently you can now say "Jack off a horse" on network television, because the future is now). Timberlake is mostly sidelined here, as most of the laughs come courtesy of Vanessa Bayer and Cecily Strong's dead-eyed porn stars-turned-pitchwomen, but I did like that he kept calling it "Monica and Chandler" champagne. The whole thing was pretty easy, but for an end-of-the-night sketch, there were a few laughs to be found. (Watch the "Moet and Chadon" video)

• Original Air Date: 3/9/13
• Host: Justin Timberlake
• Musical Guest: Justin Timberlake