Episode 5 - The Problem Solvers
15 November 2009
Review
Synopsis: 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.
The Good: Liz and Jack’s plutonic affection is one of the good things which 30 Rock has given to the world. They both seem convincingly comfortable around one another and a happy ending is always nice to see.
Jack Baker or Danny, the new actor, is a normal person. This is quite a relief as there are too few of them on this show. Fingers crossed he can fuel some good comedy by acting as the audience’s surrogate in this crazy world.
The Bad: I certainly hope he isn’t here to set up a bunch of jokes about Canadians. The jokes served up here are incredibly old hat and anyone who has watched How I Met Your Mother should know how dry that gets.
I think Jenna and Tracy are cancelling one another out. Crazy characters need sane ones around them to be funny. But by spending so much screen time together (as they have done all season) their behaviour isn’t funny but just endlessly silly. I’m not sure what the point of Kenneth’s story was. Except that he obviously enjoys serving the stars of television and will presumably continue to do so.
I don’t know enough about Padma Lakshmi to tell how good her scene was. It just seemed bland and uninteresting like the rest of this episode.
Comic Highlight: The Chinese reality show where prisoners dance their way to freedom is called “Prison Breakdance.” Seriously that was the best joke.
The Bottom Line: Inoffensive, bland, pointless.
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