Hey Dan,
First off, love the show, however I do often find myself cringing at the wasted potential I see in the clunky, unrehearsed and more awkward sections and there remain some format problems.
The most interesting AND ENTERTAINING topics (remember this is supposed to be into-tainment people) would be if the pros got to tell a few "I remember this one time backstage at a contest/in the gym/at this seminar/walking down the street minding my own business when...." type stories, with the names omitted to protect the innocent of course. The main reason people are so interested in any details regarding the pros is because the interview format doesn't really illustrate a persons personality, only how comfortable/accomplished an interviewee they are... add to this the superhuman sameness of Flex magazine articles and an aura of mystique festers in the void of any tangible frame of reference regarding these otherwordly athletes.
People lap up this stuff, the entire IronAge website is based on these kinds of stories.... they're great. Pros invariably have loads of these anecdotes.... Imagine Shawn Ray, Bob Chick, Milos Sarcev etc just shooting the shit....
-"So we both got into the lift and the cables start creaking....
-"So the old lady is screaming about her dog and the pillow I sat on starts squirming...
-"This newbie comes up to me in the gym...
-"Having bent the bar, I just hid it behind the squat rack...
-"So I'm training with [whoever] and...
-"I said, 'Thank you waitress....mmmmm..... I'll have everything on the menu except the salad and my friend will have the same....
...etc etc.
Another good idea would be dedicating a section of the show to an IronAge/nostalgia segment. Why not interview people who aren't pulling punches with their career/future placings foremost in their minds.... Samir Bannout, Sergio oliva, Frank Zane spring to mind as no-holds-barred type individuals who wouldn't mind opening a few cans of worms.
What about interviewing all Arnold's former training partners? Dave Draper, Danny Padilla and Ed Corney all post regularly on IronAge.
What about a "Where are they now"?
What about interviewing "Undercover Pro" with a voice disguiser?
The Luke