I think you're 100% correct here. My son is in bed by 8, no exceptions. Usually up around 8 the next day. My niece is in preschool from 7a-6p... Totally different experience which really sucks.
When I was that age, 8:00 meant that either Topo Gigio or the Muppets were on Ed Sullivan (they were always, for some reason, scheduled for the second half-hour). I'm not sure I needed the extra half-hour that going to bed at 7:30 gave me, but I'm pretty sure that my parents needed the recovery time before their two hours of grown-up television.