NBC Moves 30 Rock To 10 P.M., Creates All-Comedy Thursday

When NBC decided to try some unconventional programming in the 10 p.m. timeslot last season, the result was the disastrous Jay Leno experiment, which was an utter failure that only further cemented the network's position. Still, God bless them, they're still trying to liven up the slot that ER made so valuable in the 90s, and now they're using one of the few genuinely successful shows on its roster to do it. Starting January 20 30 Rock will be bumped to a 10 p.m. slot and followed by Outsourced, making NBC's Thursday night a solid three-hour block of half-hour comedies.

That leaves room for Parks and Recreation to come back at midseason, along with their new series Perfect Couples plus current offerings The Office and Community. 30 Rock and Outsourced will be taking the place of The Apprentice, which currently airs at 10 p.m. on Thursdays.

According to Deadline, the change-up happened partly because they simply didn't have enough room for all their Thursday comedies given the full-season pickup of Outsourced, but also because they had a pseudo-comedy going at 10 p.m. last spring with The Marriage Ref, and learned they could compete with heavier offerings on other networks like Grey's Anatomy or The Mentalist.

This is good news for anyone who loves any show on NBC Thursday nights, which, except for Outsourced, features some of the best comedy currently on TV. Personally I"m hoping this leaves even more room for them to hang on to Community, which has consistently struggled in the ratings but only gets funnier by the week. Below is NBC's full new midseason schedule, with new shows in all caps.

MONDAYS

8-9 p.m. – “Chuck”
9-10 p.m. – “THE CAPE” will premiere with a two-hour episode on Sunday, January 9 (9-11 p.m.). New episodes start in its regular time period on January 17 (9-10 p.m.)
10-11 p.m. – “HARRY’S LAW’ (beginning January 17)
9-10 p.m. – “The Event” (returns on February 28, 9-11 p.m.; resumes in its regular time slot March 7)
10-11 p.m. -- “Parenthood” (debuts in this slot March 7 with all originals)

TUESDAYS

8-10 p.m. -- “The Biggest Loser: Couples” (beginning January 4)
10-11 p.m. – “Parenthood” (beginning January 4 for four episodes)
10-11 p.m. -- “Law & Order: Los Angeles” (beginning February 8)

WEDNESDAYS

8-9 p.m. -- “Minute to Win It” (beginning January 5)
9-10 p.m. –“Chase” (beginning January 12)
10-11 p.m. – “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (originals beginning January 5 with two-hour episode, 9-11 p.m. ET)
9-10 p.m. – “AMERICA’S NEXT GREAT RESTAURANT” (beginning March 16)

THURSDAYS (all beginning January 20)

8-8:30 p.m. – “Community”
8:30-9 p.m. – “PERFECT COUPLES”
9-9:30 p.m. – “The Office”
9:30-10 p.m. – “Parks and Recreation”
10-10:30 p.m. – “30 Rock”
10:30-11 p.m. – “Outsourced”

FRIDAYS

8-9 p.m. -- “Who Do You Think You Are?” (beginning January 21)
9-11 p.m. – “Dateline NBC” (beginning January 7)

SUNDAYS

7-8 p.m. – “Dateline NBC”
8-9 p.m. – “The Marriage Ref” (beginning March 6)
9-11 p.m. – “The Celebrity Apprentice” (beginning March 6)