The Natural Order
Encyclopedia
"The Natural Order" is the twentieth episode of the third season
of the American television comedy show 30 Rock
. It was written by series creator Tina Fey
with co-executive producer John Riggi
and directed by Scott Ellis
. The episode originally aired on the National Broadcasting Company
(NBC) network in the United States on April 30, 2009. Guest stars in "The Natural Order" include actors Elaine Stritch
and Steve Buscemi
.
The plot of the episode centers around a conflict between Tracy Jordan
(Tracy Morgan
) and Liz Lemon
(Fey) over favorable treatment. Meanwhile, Jenna Maroney
(Jane Krakowski
) adopts a gibbon
and treats it like her child. Finally, Jack Donaghy
's (Alec Baldwin
) mother Colleen (Stritch) visits him on the thirty-fifth anniversary of the day that Jack's father left the family.
"The Natural Order" received generally mixed reception from television critics. According to the Nielsen ratings
system, it was watched by 6 million households during its original broadcast, and received a 2.7 rating/7 share among viewers in the 18–49 demographic.
(Jack McBrayer
), and Pete Hornberger (Scott Adsit
) all attempt to trick Tracy into arriving at a rehearsal on time. Tracy arrives not knowing what time it is and announces that Liz is racist and treating him like a child. Liz challenges Tracy to behave better so he can be treated as an adult, but he responds by sending a gibbon to replace himself at rehearsal. Liz tells Tracy to arrive on time with his lines memorized the next day if he wants to be treated equally. Tracy retaliates by acting professionally but convincing everyone to treat Liz equally too, by making her lift heavy water jugs, passing gas
near her, and inviting her to a strip club
along with the other writers. Liz in turn stops Tracy from going to the strip club, noting that because he is acting so professionally he has to write notes for the upcoming script. Liz is uncomfortable at the strip club and Tracy hates writing all night so they agree to return to the "natural order" of things with both receiving preferential treatment.
Meanwhile, Jenna adopts the gibbon Tracy sends to rehearsal and treats it as her child. She dresses it in several costumes including a mariachi
outfit, a tuxedo
, and a sailor suit
. In addition she buys the gibbon a baby doll, referring to herself as a "grandmother". At the end of the episode Jenna accidentally shakes the head off of the baby doll and the gibbon attacks her.
Jack is concerned for his mother, Colleen. He tells Liz that the anniversary of his father, Jimmy Donaghy, abandoning their family is coming up and he is afraid of the effect it will have on Colleen. When Jack arrives at Colleen's hotel room to take her to dinner, however, he discovers she is staying with a man, Paul. Jack, worried she has been taken in by a con man
in her time of grief, hires his private investigator Lenny Wosniak (Steve Buscemi) to look into his background. Wosniak cannot find anything distasteful in Paul's background, but tells Jack that he is married. Jack reveals this to his mother, but she says she knew and did not care. Colleen is also surprised that Jack thought the anniversary of Jimmy leaving would hurt her, noting that he had once left from the spring of 1957 until he came back and invited her to Some Like It Hot
. Jack talks this over with Liz and comes to realize that as Some Like It Hot was released in 1959, Jimmy Donaghy cannot have been his biological father because Jack was conceived in 1958, during the period Jimmy had been absent.
, and co-executive producer John Riggi
. The director of this episode was Scott Ellis
. This was Fey and Riggi's second script collaboration, having co-written season one
episode "The Head and the Hair" that aired on January 18, 2007. "The Natural Order" originally aired on April 30, 2009, on NBC in the United States as the twentieth episode of the show's third season
.
This episode was actress Elaine Stritch
's fifth appearance on 30 Rock as Collen Donaghy, the mother of Jack Donaghy
, played by Alec Baldwin
. Actor Steve Buscemi
reprised his role as private investigator Lenny Wosniak. Buscemi first appeared in the October 18, 2007, episode "The Collection
", and went on to direct the third season episode "Retreat to Move Forward
", broadcast on January 22, 2009.
!" and hands Liz a card with "Race card" written on it. "Playing the race card" is an expression referring to introducing the issue of race into a discussion. During that argument Tracy also says that "we have a black president now", referring to Barack Obama
, but Liz says that he voted for Ralph Nader
. According to J. Jeremy Wisnewski in "Race At The Rock: Race Cards, White Myths, And Postracial America", this plotline is an example of people "want[ing] to have race and do away with it too." Tracy wants to be treated equally but also wants to continue behaving the way he is used to. Wisnewski says that by the end of the episode, Liz and Tracy, in reverting to "the natural order", have come to understand the concept of equality; rather than forcing people "to be equivalent to one another ... considering the different interests of people equally."
Jack tells Liz that by protecting his mother this time, as opposed to when his father left, he can "put right what once went wrong" which Liz notes is part of the introduction to the television series Quantum Leap. Jack had written a speech to confront Jimmy Donaghy decades ago and attempts to update it for his confrontation with Paul. He asks Liz who is "today's Nikita Khrushchev
" and she suggests Simon Cowell
. Jack is also suspicious of Paul because he met his mother in Florida
, which Jack calls "America's Australia
," referring to Australia's history as a penal colony
. Kenneth also shows an NBC tour the spot where "Gracie Allen
took Jack Parr's virginity" and Jack reveals that he once slept with Kathy Hilton
.
system. It also earned a 2.7 rating/7 share amongst 18–49 year old demographic, meaning it was seen by 2.7% of all 18–49 year olds and 7% of 18–49 year olds watching television at the time of the broadcast. It was the tenth highest-rated show on NBC that week. This was a decrease from the previous episode, "The Ones
", which was watched by 6.3 million American viewers.
Aly Semigran for Entertainment Weekly
said the episode "was nowhere near as good" as other recent episodes as it was "too dependent on obvious physical comedy
." IGN
writer Robert Canning took no strong position on the episode, saying it had "jokes enough to make it funny, but nothing over the top to make it classic," rating the episode 8.2 out of 10. The A.V. Club
' s Nathan Rabin was more clearly positive about the episode, calling it a "glorious return to form" and grading the episode an A-. Bob Sassone
of AOL
's TV Squad opined he was not thrilled with Jenna's plot, observing that it was "kinda ridiculous (and unfunny, which is the worse sin)." Sassone, however, said that Liz and Tracy feuding and Jack and his mother battling "are plots that are always good for some laughs." Television columnist Alan Sepinwall for The Star-Ledger
wrote that while "The Natural Order" was not a "classic episode" it was still "solid enough, in the end." Sepinwall enjoyed Jack and his mother's story, but commented that the Liz and Tracy rivalry was a "hit-or-miss." TV Guide
' s Bruce Fretts said this episode "is easily the show's most grounded episode ever, even if it does feature a gibbon in a mariachi suit. The script [...] dares to deal with issues of race and gender from a typically irreverent perspective." Fretts noted that Elaine Stritch and Alec Baldwin "share a surprisingly tender scene as Colleen tells her son, 'You're my good boy [...] I just love you to death.'"
30 Rock (season 3)
The third season of 30 Rock, an American television comedy series, consists of 22 episodes and began airing on October 30, 2008 on the NBC network in the United States...
of the American television comedy show 30 Rock
30 Rock
30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey that airs on NBC. The series is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live...
. It was written by series creator Tina Fey
Tina Fey
Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer, known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live , the NBC comedy series 30 Rock, and films such as Mean Girls and Baby Mama .Fey first broke into comedy as a featured player in the...
with co-executive producer John Riggi
John Riggi
John Riggi is an American television writer, producer, director, and actor who has worked on various television shows.He has worked as a writer on the NBC comedy series 30 Rock...
and directed by Scott Ellis
Scott Ellis
Scott Ellis is an American stage director and television director.-Biography:Ellis has directed numerous Off-Broadway and Broadway productions, including the New York City Opera Company revivals at the New York State Theatre: A Little Night Music and 110 in the Shade up to his current show, the...
. The episode originally aired on the National Broadcasting Company
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
(NBC) network in the United States on April 30, 2009. Guest stars in "The Natural Order" include actors Elaine Stritch
Elaine Stritch
Elaine Stritch is an American actress and vocalist. She has appeared in numerous stage plays and musicals, feature films, and many television programs...
and Steve Buscemi
Steve Buscemi
Steven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,...
.
The plot of the episode centers around a conflict between Tracy Jordan
Tracy Jordan
Ogbert Jordan, better known by his stage name, Tracy, is a fictional character on the American television series 30 Rock, based on and played by Tracy Morgan.-Brief overview:...
(Tracy Morgan
Tracy Morgan
Tracy Morgan is an American comedian who is best known for his eight seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and currently known for playing the role of Tracy Jordan on the NBC series 30 Rock.-Early life:...
) and Liz Lemon
Liz Lemon
Elizabeth Miervaldis "Liz" Lemon is the main character of the American television series 30 Rock. She is portrayed by Tina Fey, who is also the creator of the series and its showrunner.-Personal history:...
(Fey) over favorable treatment. Meanwhile, Jenna Maroney
Jenna Maroney
Jenna Maroney is a fictional character on the American television series 30 Rock, played by Jane Krakowski.-Fictional biography:Jenna was born Ystrepa Grokovitz on February 24, 1969 and grew up in Bakersfield...
(Jane Krakowski
Jane Krakowski
Jane Krakowski is an American actress and singer. She is most well known for her performance of Elaine Vassal on Ally McBeal, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, and for her current role as Jenna Maroney on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, for which she has been nominated for three Emmy...
) adopts a gibbon
Gibbon
Gibbons are apes in the family Hylobatidae . The family is divided into four genera based on their diploid chromosome number: Hylobates , Hoolock , Nomascus , and Symphalangus . The extinct Bunopithecus sericus is a gibbon or gibbon-like ape which, until recently, was thought to be closely related...
and treats it like her child. Finally, Jack Donaghy
Jack Donaghy
John Francis "Jack" Donaghy is a fictional character on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock. He is the Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming for General Electric and later Kabletown....
's (Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin
Alexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III is an American actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television.Baldwin first gained recognition through television for his work in the soap opera Knots Landing in the role of Joshua Rush. He was a cast member for two seasons before his character was killed off...
) mother Colleen (Stritch) visits him on the thirty-fifth anniversary of the day that Jack's father left the family.
"The Natural Order" received generally mixed reception from television critics. According to the Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
system, it was watched by 6 million households during its original broadcast, and received a 2.7 rating/7 share among viewers in the 18–49 demographic.
Plot
Liz, Kenneth ParcellKenneth Parcell
Kenneth Ellen Parcell is a fictional character in the comedy television series 30 Rock. He is portrayed by actor Jack McBrayer and first appeared on television in the 30 Rock episode "Pilot" on October 10, 2006...
(Jack McBrayer
Jack McBrayer
Jack McBrayer is an American actor and comedian. He gained national exposure for his characters on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien"...
), and Pete Hornberger (Scott Adsit
Scott Adsit
Scott Adsit is an American actor, writer and improvisational comedian. He is currently co-starring as Pete Hornberger in the hit NBC comedy 30 Rock and worked in the Adult Swim stop-motion animation programs Moral Orel and Mary Shelley's Frankenhole.-1990s:After attending Columbia College Chicago,...
) all attempt to trick Tracy into arriving at a rehearsal on time. Tracy arrives not knowing what time it is and announces that Liz is racist and treating him like a child. Liz challenges Tracy to behave better so he can be treated as an adult, but he responds by sending a gibbon to replace himself at rehearsal. Liz tells Tracy to arrive on time with his lines memorized the next day if he wants to be treated equally. Tracy retaliates by acting professionally but convincing everyone to treat Liz equally too, by making her lift heavy water jugs, passing gas
Flatulence
Flatulence is the expulsion through the rectum of a mixture of gases that are byproducts of the digestion process of mammals and other animals. The medical term for the mixture of gases is flatus, informally known as a fart, or simply gas...
near her, and inviting her to a strip club
Strip club
A strip club is an adult entertainment venue in which striptease or other erotic or exotic dance is regularly performed. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or bar style, but can also adopt a theatre or cabaret-style....
along with the other writers. Liz in turn stops Tracy from going to the strip club, noting that because he is acting so professionally he has to write notes for the upcoming script. Liz is uncomfortable at the strip club and Tracy hates writing all night so they agree to return to the "natural order" of things with both receiving preferential treatment.
Meanwhile, Jenna adopts the gibbon Tracy sends to rehearsal and treats it as her child. She dresses it in several costumes including a mariachi
Mariachi
Mariachi is a genre of music that originated in the State of Jalisco, in Mexico. It is an integration of stringed instruments highly influenced by the cultural impacts of the historical development of Western Mexico. Throughout the history of mariachi, musicians have experimented with brass, wind,...
outfit, a tuxedo
Tuxedo
A tuxedo is a type of semi-formal dress for men.Tuxedo may also refer to:-Places:Canada* Tuxedo, Winnipeg, Manitoba, a city neighborhood** Tuxedo , a provincial electoral district in Manitoba...
, and a sailor suit
Sailor suit
A sailor suit is a uniform traditionally worn by enlisted seamen in the navy, and other government funded sea services. It later developed in to a popular clothing style for children....
. In addition she buys the gibbon a baby doll, referring to herself as a "grandmother". At the end of the episode Jenna accidentally shakes the head off of the baby doll and the gibbon attacks her.
Jack is concerned for his mother, Colleen. He tells Liz that the anniversary of his father, Jimmy Donaghy, abandoning their family is coming up and he is afraid of the effect it will have on Colleen. When Jack arrives at Colleen's hotel room to take her to dinner, however, he discovers she is staying with a man, Paul. Jack, worried she has been taken in by a con man
Confidence trick
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual working alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility,...
in her time of grief, hires his private investigator Lenny Wosniak (Steve Buscemi) to look into his background. Wosniak cannot find anything distasteful in Paul's background, but tells Jack that he is married. Jack reveals this to his mother, but she says she knew and did not care. Colleen is also surprised that Jack thought the anniversary of Jimmy leaving would hurt her, noting that he had once left from the spring of 1957 until he came back and invited her to Some Like It Hot
Some Like It Hot
Some Like It Hot is an American comedy film, made in 1958 and released in 1959, which was directed by Billy Wilder and starred Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and George Raft. The supporting cast includes Joe E. Brown, Pat O'Brien and Nehemiah Persoff. The film is a remake by Wilder and I....
. Jack talks this over with Liz and comes to realize that as Some Like It Hot was released in 1959, Jimmy Donaghy cannot have been his biological father because Jack was conceived in 1958, during the period Jimmy had been absent.
Production
"The Natural Order" was written by series' creator, executive producer and lead actress Tina FeyTina Fey
Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer, known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live , the NBC comedy series 30 Rock, and films such as Mean Girls and Baby Mama .Fey first broke into comedy as a featured player in the...
, and co-executive producer John Riggi
John Riggi
John Riggi is an American television writer, producer, director, and actor who has worked on various television shows.He has worked as a writer on the NBC comedy series 30 Rock...
. The director of this episode was Scott Ellis
Scott Ellis
Scott Ellis is an American stage director and television director.-Biography:Ellis has directed numerous Off-Broadway and Broadway productions, including the New York City Opera Company revivals at the New York State Theatre: A Little Night Music and 110 in the Shade up to his current show, the...
. This was Fey and Riggi's second script collaboration, having co-written season one
30 Rock (season 1)
The first season of the television comedy series 30 Rock originally aired between October 11, 2006 and April 26, 2007 on NBC in the United States...
episode "The Head and the Hair" that aired on January 18, 2007. "The Natural Order" originally aired on April 30, 2009, on NBC in the United States as the twentieth episode of the show's third season
30 Rock (season 3)
The third season of 30 Rock, an American television comedy series, consists of 22 episodes and began airing on October 30, 2008 on the NBC network in the United States...
.
This episode was actress Elaine Stritch
Elaine Stritch
Elaine Stritch is an American actress and vocalist. She has appeared in numerous stage plays and musicals, feature films, and many television programs...
's fifth appearance on 30 Rock as Collen Donaghy, the mother of Jack Donaghy
Jack Donaghy
John Francis "Jack" Donaghy is a fictional character on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock. He is the Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming for General Electric and later Kabletown....
, played by Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin
Alexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III is an American actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television.Baldwin first gained recognition through television for his work in the soap opera Knots Landing in the role of Joshua Rush. He was a cast member for two seasons before his character was killed off...
. Actor Steve Buscemi
Steve Buscemi
Steven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,...
reprised his role as private investigator Lenny Wosniak. Buscemi first appeared in the October 18, 2007, episode "The Collection
The Collection (30 Rock)
"The Collection" is the third episode of NBC's second season of 30 Rock, and the twenty-fourth episode overall. It was written by producer Matt Hubbard and directed by producer Don Scardino, and first aired on October 18, 2007 in the United States...
", and went on to direct the third season episode "Retreat to Move Forward
Retreat to Move Forward
"Retreat to Move Forward" is the ninth episode of the third season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 45th overall episode of the series. It was written by executive story editor Tami Sagher and directed by Steve Buscemi. The episode originally aired on the National...
", broadcast on January 22, 2009.
Cultural references
"The Natural Order" is one of several 30 Rock episodes to deal with race. In this episode, when Tracy leaves the first rehearsal accusing Liz of racism he yells "Race cardRace card
Playing the race card is an idiomatic phrase that refers to exploitation of either racist or anti-racist attitudes to gain a personal advantage, typically by falsely accusing others of racism against oneself.-Usage:...
!" and hands Liz a card with "Race card" written on it. "Playing the race card" is an expression referring to introducing the issue of race into a discussion. During that argument Tracy also says that "we have a black president now", referring to Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, but Liz says that he voted for Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader is an American political activist, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to Nader include consumer protection, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government....
. According to J. Jeremy Wisnewski in "Race At The Rock: Race Cards, White Myths, And Postracial America", this plotline is an example of people "want[ing] to have race and do away with it too." Tracy wants to be treated equally but also wants to continue behaving the way he is used to. Wisnewski says that by the end of the episode, Liz and Tracy, in reverting to "the natural order", have come to understand the concept of equality; rather than forcing people "to be equivalent to one another ... considering the different interests of people equally."
Jack tells Liz that by protecting his mother this time, as opposed to when his father left, he can "put right what once went wrong" which Liz notes is part of the introduction to the television series Quantum Leap. Jack had written a speech to confront Jimmy Donaghy decades ago and attempts to update it for his confrontation with Paul. He asks Liz who is "today's Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
" and she suggests Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell is an English A&R executive, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is known in the United Kingdom and United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol, The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and American Idol...
. Jack is also suspicious of Paul because he met his mother in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, which Jack calls "America's Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
," referring to Australia's history as a penal colony
Penal colony
A penal colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general populace by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory...
. Kenneth also shows an NBC tour the spot where "Gracie Allen
Gracie Allen
Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen , known as Gracie Allen, was an American comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns...
took Jack Parr's virginity" and Jack reveals that he once slept with Kathy Hilton
Kathy Hilton
Kathleen Elizabeth "Kathy" Hilton is an American actress. She is the mother of Paris Hilton and Nicky Hilton.-Personal life and family:...
.
Reception
In its original American broadcast, "The Natural Order" was watched by 6 million viewers, according to the Nielsen ratingsNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
system. It also earned a 2.7 rating/7 share amongst 18–49 year old demographic, meaning it was seen by 2.7% of all 18–49 year olds and 7% of 18–49 year olds watching television at the time of the broadcast. It was the tenth highest-rated show on NBC that week. This was a decrease from the previous episode, "The Ones
The Ones (30 Rock)
"The Ones" is the nineteenth episode of the third season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock. It was written by co-executive producer Jack Burditt, and directed by Beth McCarthy. The episode aired in the United States on April 23, 2009, on the National Broadcasting Company . Guest...
", which was watched by 6.3 million American viewers.
Aly Semigran for Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
said the episode "was nowhere near as good" as other recent episodes as it was "too dependent on obvious physical comedy
Physical comedy
Physical comedy, also known as slapstick, is a comedic performance relying mostly on the use of the body to convey humour.Physical comedy, whether conveyed by a pratfall , a silly face, or the action of walking into walls, is a common and rarely subtle form of comedy...
." IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
writer Robert Canning took no strong position on the episode, saying it had "jokes enough to make it funny, but nothing over the top to make it classic," rating the episode 8.2 out of 10. The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
Bob Sassone
Bob Sassone is an American writer. He was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts, to Italian and Portuguese parents. He is the youngest of seven children....
of AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
's TV Squad opined he was not thrilled with Jenna's plot, observing that it was "kinda ridiculous (and unfunny, which is the worse sin)." Sassone, however, said that Liz and Tracy feuding and Jack and his mother battling "are plots that are always good for some laughs." Television columnist Alan Sepinwall for The Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to The Jersey Journal of Jersey City, The Times of Trenton and the Staten Island Advance, all of which are owned by Advance Publications.The Newark Star-Ledgers daily...
wrote that while "The Natural Order" was not a "classic episode" it was still "solid enough, in the end." Sepinwall enjoyed Jack and his mother's story, but commented that the Liz and Tracy rivalry was a "hit-or-miss." TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
External links
- "The Natural Order" at TV.comTV.comTV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan...