 IGN contributor Robert Canning said that " The Break @-@ Up " was " well put together " , noting that it had " [ g ] ood set ups and good execution " and that it " gave us good comedy " as it had " plenty to work with . " In regards to the Liz and Dennis story , he admitted that while it was funny , it was " fairly stereotypical . " Canning commented that Jack 's relationship with Condoleezza Rice in the episode was a " great concept " and " offered up a good number of chuckles " , although " it never became as clever as it appeared it was going to be . " Canning gave the episode a 6 @.@ 5 out of 10 rating . TV Guide 's Matt Mitovich was complimentary towards the episode , reporting , " Now this is what I 'm talking about . Second @-@ tier cast integration , multiple stories going on , intimations that Condoleezza Rice likes phone sex ... Another winning week for NBC 's 30 Rock . " Mitovich enjoyed the fact that Jack was in a relationship with Rice , writing that another show " would build [ the ] whole episode around them " but that 30 Rock " made it that much funnier by playing it in the background and thus getting to be more outrageous with it . " Julia Ward of AOL 's TV Squad wrote that Alec Baldwin " always knocks the ball out of the park on the acting front " but noted that " the best material " in this episode belonged to the Tracy and Toofer story . " The show does have a tendency to telegraph its punchlines , but it was nice to have the two men 's differences resolved by finding the funny in a Star Jones / excessive vomiting sketch . " Ward was complimentary towards Jane Krakowski , observing that her " comic timing " in " The Break @-@ Up " was " impeccable as usual , but it would be nice to see her character get a tad more three @-@ dimensional . " Amy Amatangelo of the Boston Herald enjoyed Dean Winters ' appearances on the show , citing that he does a " hilarious turn " as Dennis , while the Houston Chronicle 's Mike McDaniel opined that Winters had a " [ s ] <unk> @-@ stealing and hilarious role " on the show . 
