Surely , since the temperature tends to be steady at night or to change very slowly , it is a case of overkill doing "darks" between each "light" of the same duration ?
I can see where you are coming from, in regard to this, and I too was thinking that the transition of 35 mm into digital was a piece of cake, so to speak.
As you, I figured how hard could it be, gee I had been doing 35mm film stuff for ever, I have this experience, so this can't be that hard surly.
Well no, it really isn't hard, but I soon learn't that to get the best out of the digital world there were a few things that I should do to make the results as good as possible, and taking darks and flats etc, was one of them.
It dose make a big difference to get the temp right, and ICNR is also the best way to go, I know it is a pain in the arse, but thats life.
Leon