The appeal of Tommy

[MattEmily]

Originally Posted by Miki1988

Here's my take on this:

When MMPR first came out, it was instantly a hit show. It's just that the producers weren't ready for what's to came back then as they were only set out to do Zyuranger stuff and end the show after 40 episodes. However, nobody counted on PR sticking for more than originally planned, so when it was decided to change the originally intended ending, Power Rangers BEING WITHOUT Tommy became a problem because the Green Ranger had all the good stuff and all the good fight scenes.

So when the fans got their way, season 1 was extended. But the fans also wanted Tommy back, so Saban had Zordon re-charge the powers. They wanted some more of the guy in the gold shield. Then MMPR got a 2nd season renewal and a movie deal and it became clear to the producers that the show was going to stick around some more. With "Green No More", the Green Ranger was done. So was Tommy. Then JDF did the pilot for what become VR Troopers (Cybertron) so fans, once again, wrote to Saban about wanting Tommy back.
So they ditched the actor that was supposed to be the White Ranger and brought Tommy back as White.

Now I don't know if all of the above is 100 % accurate (I might have left something out), but it looks like - at least to me - that the MMPR producers realized that they needed an already established character if they wanted to keep the show going for a longer period of time. JDF definitely left a big mark during his time as the Green Ranger on the show and a memorable character behind, so the producers just did what they had to do and built up upon what actually GLUED the show to the TV world and made it ultra recognizable - and that was Jason David Frank as Tommy Oliver. So keeping the character in the show (and the actor) was the way of making sure that the show and the franchise stuck around.

basically based on what we know it's pretty accurate.
Fox Kids ordered 40 episodes. Saban shot an alternate ending closer to the Zyuranger finale in case the show crashed and burned but when it became a hit the network ordered 20 more episodes so Saban opted to go to Toei and Rainbow Productions for help since the Zyuranger footage was nearly exhausted they only had 2 Dora Monsters left so on Saban's paycheck Toei and Rainbow went to work on creating new monsters and filming them in the style of Zyuranger but then Saban decided to order Dairanger since he wanted new merchandise to market and yes that's indeed true in regards to Tommy.