[How to: TV] Saving time

This is from Ron Moore’s Battlestar Galactica production blog as they gear up for Season 2:

"In terms of writing, we have scripts in hand for the first seven shows, scripts underway for the next three and stories underway for the next three after that, so we're in excellent shape in terms of being prepared for production. The further ahead you can deliver scripts, the more time each department has to plan and allocate resources, which ends up saving substantial money by simply avoiding last-minute surprises like, "Oh, we need a freighter interior this week" which causes an enormous scramble as everyone has to run around and either find a location with virtually no lead time which must still be completely dressed for camera, or a set will have to be constructed from scratch virtually overnight with consequent overtime overages. The solution sounds simple -- just write the scripts faster -- but executing that idea turns out to be much more complex. Changes in storylines tend to domino backwards and forwards throughout the episodes, requiring more rewriting and a lot of ball juggling to keep it all straight."