It is, in the sense that there's a structure beign reused, but not in the sense that it is done thoughtlessly or without depth!
Exactly! The more recent seasons, while they might not follow the MOTW "formula" as closely, I think it has become much more predictable in terms of character arcs. Which I find very disappointing :(

Oh, wow, I didn't know that!
Well I live in Van and hear stuff about filming sometimes, and add to that things they've said at cons, Jared tweeting when he travels... and yeah, it seems like on average they only work 4 days a week, if that.