Will 'Dancing' Keep Up Its Recent Tempo?

"Dancing With the Stars" has executed quite a tour jete over the past couple of years. Season 15 stumbled a bit — that was the "All Star" season that saw a precipitous drop in ratings numbers and aggravation from former contestant Hope Solo, who claimed in her now-mostly-forgotten memoir that the competition was rigged. It was such a disappointment, ABC Entertainment President Paul Lee made a point of saying they would not be repeating the all-star experiment. "It turns out people want to see bad dancing as much as they do good dancing," he said. But last year, the ABC stalwart picked itself up, got back in step, and wound up Season 17 in December with a finale that was one of the two top-rated shows of the week.

Things bode well for Season 18, which gets underway March 17. The new cast of "Dancing" competitors has the show's patented assortment of names you know, names you kinda know, names you used to know, personalities that have the potential to go big, and curiosities. They range from Drew Carey to distance swimmer Diana Nyada and Olympic figure skating darlings Meryl Davis and Charlie White, who will be competing against one another this time, and from '80s TV sweethearts Danica McKellar (Winnie Cooper) and Candace Cameron Bure (D.J. Tanner) to heartthrobs James Maslow and Cody Simpson. Will you be tuning in to Season 18 of "DWTS"? I will, and here are five reasons why:

1. Lando Calrissian himself. 76-year-old Billy Dee Williams, fresh off "The Lego Movie"! May the Force be with him. At least, here's hoping he's not the first one off the planet.

2. The tempestuous, temperamental, terpsichorean tiger Maksim Chmerkovskiy is back — partnered with Meryl Davis. It would have been fun to see him partnered with equally fiery NeNe Leakes, but the show is supposed to be about dancing, not arguing. (NeNe's partnered with smooth, likeable, audience favorite Tony Dovolan, who previously had to put up with the awful Kate Gosselin. Sorry, Tony!)

3. They've put double-amputee snowboarding champ Amy Purdy with five-time champ Derek Hough. The thought of a double amputee executing some of the dance moves frequently seen on the show is enough to make you wince at the pain! Very likely, Amy will be teaching us all something.

4. I'm curious about how Erin Andrews will fit into the mix as she replaces Brooke Burke-Charvet.

5. I want to see Candace Cameron Bure's former "Full House" family in the "DWTS" audience — John Stamos — Uncle Jesse! Dave Coulier — do your Bullwinkle imitation! Mary-Kate and Ashley with the craggy old men in their lives. Bob Saget sharing dirty jokes with Tom Bergeron, who loves them as much as Bob. What a colorful assortment.

Sounds like fun.