Laurence Moroney <100546.50@compuserve.com> asks:
> May I ask another question?
> I have been curious about the strange scheduling of the show in
> the USA (I arrived here just in time for season 4), and wonder if
> it actually *helps* the quality of the show??? What do you think
> of this? Was this the writers exhaustion reaching the screen
> having written all of season 3 and a huge chunk of season 2?

The long broadcast breaks don't give us a break because we
don't stop filming during them. We start filming at the beginning of
August, and we shoot straight through to May, with only breaks for
holidays and a quick one-week hiatus in the fall and spring. It would
be hideously expensive and difficult to stop and start shooting every
five weeks.

jms