So this was the first time I personally, and for my car, that any of this area of the engine had ever been touched.  I took my time, observing and thinking about things and being careful, and it took me about 2 hours from start to getting to the point of having the left side valve cover ready for removal but the 10 bolts not removed, plus 1 #1 spark plug out just to have a look at condition.  If I had to do it the second time, I could easily knock off a 1/2 hour or so.  Right side....that's for an upcoming session 

.
So based on this first session, my conclusions about the 1.7 hr book time for a complete spark plug R&R are:
1.  Any tech assigned that job is, or soon will be, broke if his income depended on it.
2.  I would hate to see the condition of the car/engine bay and related things after such an attempt to meet or better the book time - it would look like a train wreck IMO, especially to those of us that love our cars like babies and try to keep things nice and organized while minimizing collateral damage.