Or they could've just scrapped the episode altogether, have Tommy go on a martial arts tournament for a couple of episodes and than still have 20 more episodes ordered.
Tommy would still be a part of the team after the tournament, some of the episodes would need to be re-written to include him, the Return of an old Friend episodes would be scrapped and the Sentai footage for the Green Candle and the ROAOF could be used in different episodes as well.
Than have Zedd bring up the Green Crystal in S2 and the things would play out just the same from that point on.
But your idea is good too, however, they would need to come up with more original Green Ranger footage and story as well.
