NBC has come up with a solution to its "too many sitcoms, not enough timeslots" problem -- by placing a pair of half-hour comedies in a place they are rarely seen: the 10 p.m. hour.

The peacock network has announced its midseason schedule changes, always a sad event since it means the imminent end of its one major hit, the Sunday night NFL game. The big news is that NBC plans to run six comedies in prime time on Thursdays, with 30 Rock and Outsourced moving to 10 and 10:30 p.m., respectively. The current 30 Rock slot at 8:30 will be filled by the new Perfect Couples, and Parks and Recreation will return at 9:30. Community (8 p.m.) and The Office (9 p.m.) will stay put.

Two other new series make their NBC debuts this winter. The Cape and Harry's Law will bump The Event and Chase on Mondays, while Chase will move to Wednesdays at 9, to be followed by the veteran Law & Order: SVU. The first-year series Law & Order: Los Angeles will move from Wednesdays, where it has struggled, to Tuesdays at 10 starting in February, where it will follow The Biggest Loser.

The Sunday night football slot will be filled by the return of the much-derided The Marriage Ref and by Celebrity Apprentice, which is probably the only kind of Apprentice we will be seeing any more on NBC, given the ratings for the non-celeb recession edition this fall.