In its original American broadcast, "Dealbreakers Talk Show #0001" drew in 6.2 million households, according to the
Nielsen Media Research. This amounted to a seven percent ratings increase over the previous week's episode, "
Sun Tea", which was seen by 5.858 million American viewers. The show claimed a 3.0 rating/8 share among viewers in the 18–49 demographic, that is 3.0 percent of all people in that group, and 8 percent of all people from that group watching television at the time, watched the episode. Ken Eluto, an editor on the show, received a
Primetime Emmy Award nomination for
Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series at the
62nd Primetime Emmy Awards, but lost it to Ryan Case for his work on the
pilot episode of
Modern Family. "Dealbreakers Talk Show #0001" was submitted for consideration on the behalf of Tina Fey for
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series at the same awards show, but lost it to actress
Edie Falco. This episode of
30 Rock has received generally positive reviews. Robert Canning of
IGN gave the episode an 8.9 out of 10 rating and wrote that the plotlines featured here were "fun, but it was, as is often the case, Liz and Jack that really made [the episode] a winner." Television columnist Alan Sepinwall for
The Star-Ledger said that Frank turning into Liz "felt a little too predictable", nonetheless complimented Judah Friedlander for it. Regarding the episode itself, Sepinwall wrote that it was a "great story, and a much better closing point to the 'Dealbreakers' plot".
Bob Sassone of
AOL's
TV Squad objected to the jokes about Liz and Fey being unattractive, but was glad that Liz did not get her talk show, reasoning it would have "ruin[ed] the whole Liz/Jack/
TGS dynamic."
Time contributor
James Poniewozik was complimentary towards the "Dealbreakers" story, and commented that the series "has often been strongest in the episodes in which Liz Lemon's professional life tracks Tina Fey's, and 'Dealbreakers' was definitely one of them." In conclusion, Poniewozik said that despite this not being "an all-time classic" it was "one of the most laugh-full
30 Rock's in a while".
TV Guide's Michael Anthony reported that part of him really wanted to see the
Dealbreaker pilot work out for Liz, noting "I think there's something there – something really funny!" Anthony was complimentary towards Whoopi Goldberg's cameo, and said that when the Jenna character "opens her mouth" she is a "hysterical treat." Nathan Rabin of
The A.V. Club wrote that "Dealbreakers Talk Show #0001" was a "delightful surprise, delivering laughs aplenty and steering clear of the pitfalls that have hindered the show so far this year. [...] It was a welcome return to form chockablock with quotable lines and laugh out loud moments." He was complimentary towards Fey here, noting that she "illustrated [her] chops as a physical comedian". Sean Gandert, a contributor for
Paste magazine, said that Tracy's plot was "pretty awesome". Gandert, who has not been a fan of the "Dealbreakers" storyline, appreciated it in this episode, opining it had "good writing even by the show's outsized standards."
Entertainment Weekly contributor Margaret Lyons was positive about this episode, writing "Last night's
30 Rock was legitimately one of the best episodes ever [...] 'Dealbreakers Talk Show #0001' was one for the record books". ==References==