Jack says the key to GE surviving the economic downturn is to appeal to Middle America. He tells Kenneth that he can’t pay the Page’s overtime and orders Liz to hire a new cast member. Tracy tries to reconnect with the common man while Jenna “goes country.” Liz and Pete try not to arouse suspicion as they search for a new cast member. Kenneth sees Jack’s paycheque and wants him to admit that he is a liar. Jack refuses so the Page’s go on strike.
Jack is forced to go to Washington to attend Government bailout hearings. Devin Banks is the taskforce chairman and is thrilled to see GE struggling. Rather than lose his job Jack convinces Devin to offer him government bailout money. Meanwhile all the men at NBC are angry with Liz when her “Dealbreaker” book comes out. Tracy moves in with her when his wife kicks him out. Jenna tries to punish Liz for hiring a new cast member by heading to Iceland to shoot a werewolf movie.
Jack and Liz head to Stone Mountain, Georgia to look for a new comedian to join TGS. Jack wants to find someone who will appeal to ordinary decent Americans. He wants to hire a ventriloquist and Liz is determined to stop him. Tracy learns about the idea that celebrities die in threes and fears for his life. Jenna strikes a deal with Frank, Toopher and Lutz, she will let them come to gay Halloween and they promise to take care of her when the new cast member arrives.
Liz and Pete have found the actor they want to hire, Jayden Tyler. The Hornberger system is a sure fire way of presenting other actors who Jack will hate to ensure that Jayden gets hired. But Liz feels bad about rejecting people and ends up opening the floodgates to many more wannabe actors. Jenna insists that Jayden is crazy and is proven right. Meanwhile Jack has bed bugs and learns a lesson about humanity when no one wants to go near him. He ends up hiring a street performer who was kind to him.
Jack offers to make a Deal Breakers TV show starring Liz. She accepts but soon decides to explore her options after Tracy and Jenna advise her to. Tracy and Jenna are so pleased with themselves that they call themselves “The Problem Solvers.” The new actor Jack Baker struggles to find out what to do to succeed and annoys Kenneth by not asking for his services. Jack turns hard on Liz and invites Padma Lakshmi to host the show instead. In the end Jack and Liz realise they don’t want to work with anyone else.
Liz’ apartment complex increase her rent so she looks to buy. But in order to make room for a theoretical family, she wants to buy the apartment upstairs. The resident Brian wants to stay and assumes that she is in the same position as him. So she moves in with him and tries to drive him out using tactics which Jenna and Tracy suggest. Meanwhile Jack and Tracy decide they don’t want children and set up an appointment to get vasectomies. It’s also Green Week at NBC and Kenneth encourages everyone to help them cut their Carbon use by five per cent.
Liz begins to fall apart under the stress of hosting her own show. Jack tries all he can to help her, partly because Devin Banks is putting pressure on him about the shows profitability. Meanwhile Tracy tries to convince Angie to have a daughter with him but gets distracted by a new necklace.
Liz and Jack agree to exchange gifts but Jack is preoccupied when his old high school crush comes to town. Frank, Toopher and Lutz try to get out of Kenneth’s complex version of Secret Santa by pretending to be Verdukians.
Jack got wasted on New Years and called Nancy. He and Kenneth break into her house to erase the message but then discover that Nancy’s marriage has broken down. On her holiday Liz outed her cousin Randy and he now comes to stay with her. Tracy has got Angie pregnant and his attitude toward women has begun to change. Finally Jenna met James Franco’s agent and enters into a fake relationship with him.
Tracy invites Sue the writer into the entourage and becomes protective of her. Jenna has to try ageing gracefully when offered the part of a mother on Gossip Girl. Jack is happy to finally have a man’s man in Danny to hang out with but is disgusted to learn that he is hooking up with Liz.
The TGS staff are all in foul moods because of the January cold. Pete suggests they take the show on location to Florida in order to perk everyone up. But Jack wants to see Nancy and so changes the location to Boston. This makes everyone else even more miserable and so Liz invents a fake NBC executive that she can blame all their grievances on. Tracy begins arguing with a tour guide playing John Hancock. Nancy is resistant to change but Jack makes his feelings clear.
Jenna’s mother Verna comes to visit and Jack is convinced that she is just like Colleen. Verna wins back Jenna’s affection but then pitches a reality show to Jack. Meanwhile Frank stays at Liz’ place after a fire in his apartment. She suggests he gives up smoking while she stops eating junk food. Pete says they all need a release and warns Liz of the dangers of cutting hers off with predictably gross results.
It’s Valentines Day and everyone has plans. Liz decides to avoid the loneliness by scheduling her route canal surgery then. But when she realises that she needs someone to pick her up afterwards she finds she has no options. Jack is looking for some easy action but instead develops an attraction to Avery Jessop a CNBC news woman. Jenna is upset to discover her stalker has moved on.
