This is my first post and I wasn't sure where to put this topic.
I started watching this show in S17 but I feel like something is "off" this season. I've been reading some of the comments here and several others have echoed similar sentiments. I guess I still miss people like Alfonso, Tommy, Sadie, Nene, Bill, Leah, etc; most of this current cast comes across as dull and charmless by comparison. I feel over this season and want to look forward to September.
Here is my wish list of suggestions/improvements for season 21:
Give Tony and Artem partners around their own age. Suzanne felt like Betsey Redux. Don't pigeonhole the pros into "boxes" in terms of partners. Give Mark and Val partners over 50 (hasn't happened yet for both). Again, Willow was too similar to Sadie. Give them old legends like Raquel Welch and Roseanne Barr. Give Sasha, Henry, and Lindsay second seasons as pros. 17 seasons in troupe between the three of them - that's a long time. If Keo/Artem/Allison got second chances, then so should them.
Derek should take a season off or retire altogether. I'm tired of all the discussions and analysis surrounding him.
NO FOURTH JUDGE! Three is enough (I'm assuming Len is done with fall cycles, if not the spring too). Carrie Ann should be fired and replaced with Anna, Karina or Louis, but I think we're stuck with her forever. The Packages have become too long and elaborately produced and edited. This isn't an SNL Digital Short. Stop with the outdoor "skits" so we can have more time for actual dancing. This really started when Rob Wade replaced Conrad Green last fall. With each passing season it feels like the troupe is in more and more of the routines. Don't know if anyone else has noticed this. With Kym returning to Australia to judge, it's really the end of an era for female pros. It's going to be very strange without Cheryl, Karina, and Kym.
GET BIGGER STARS! This season we had Patti, Suzanne, and...crickets. Whereas S18 had Billy Dee, Candace, Danica, Drew, Nene; S17 had both Bill's, Valerie, Amber, Leah, Elizabeth, arguably Snooki.
I'm sorry this post is so long. What does everyone think? What's your Wish List for 21?