And the Fandom Rejoiced/Live Action TV

Live action TV has had a number of moments where the casting has engendered excitement. Here are a few:


 * Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: JEFFREY COMBS AS WEYOUN.
 * Doctor Who: The news that Christopher Eccleston, a high-profile "serious" actor, had been cast as the Doctor for the new Doctor Who series -- prior to this it was worried that the new series would merely be a campy, slightly snide over-parody, and previous casting rumors hadn't helped matters. So much so that when it was announced that he was quitting after one season, many fans didn't take it at all well.
 * And then cue his successor, David Tennant, to much the same effect. Including the fans not taking his departure at all well.
 * And HIS successor, Matt Smith, has already won over most of the western hemisphere with his wiggly hand movements in an interview.
 * Preceding the announcement of Smith as the new Doctor was the absolute shitstorm of win kicked up by Steven Moffat accepting the job of showrunner. There will be much awesome and subsequent hiding behind couches.
 * This trailer seems to be swinging quite a few of the unconvinced into Eleven's corner. The probably didn't hurt. Is it possible to be both a Fandom Rejoice and Nightmare Fuel at the same time?
 * Many seemed to be sold by Matt Smith saying
 * And if that didn't work, "Basically... run." did.
 * And now the 2011 season has a Fandom Rejoice moment: Neil Gaiman has confirmed having written an episode for said season.
 * Mark freaking Sheppard is guest-starring. Mark. Sheppard.
 * And for you Big Finish fans, p2518 guess who's back?
 * It's confirmed - Jo Grant's going to be back in the Whoniverse.
 * There is absolutely no description for the amount of this created by the announcement that Elisabeth Sladen would be returning to Who proper as beloved Classic companion Sarah Jane Smith. And then the cries got louder when she got her own show - a show that would see the return of the above-mentioned Jo Grant and Nicholas Courtney as The Brigadier.
 * A survey of fanzines from 1988 show great rejoicing when the by-then-hated producer of the series, John Nathan-Turner, was reported as having left the series; this ended up being a premature report and Nathan-Turner ended up staying in charge for the show's final year in 1989, which no doubt led to the polar opposite of fan rejoicing in some quarters.
 * There was rejoicing in fandom when  in Season 4.
 * Much fan rejoicing in the recent news that Rupert Graves will be in Season 7.
 * Mark Williams A.K.A. Arthur Weasley is playing Rory's dad? Awesome!
 * Ben Browder of Farscape is showing up in Season 7 as well. Niiiiiice.
 * They're doing another adaptation of Sherlock Holmes? Another one? And it's going to be set in modern-day instead of period? Didn't they already try doing that back in the '40s? Wait... It's being created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss? Martin Freeman is Watson?? And Benedict Cumberbatch is Holmes? Holy shit!!
 * Jane Espenson (of Buffy, Battlestar, and Caprica fame) is on the writing staff for Torchwood: Miracle Day!
 * As are Doris Egan, whom one may know from Dark Angel and House, and John Shiban, whom one may know from Supernatural and The X-Files.
 * Law and Order: Criminal Intent had two. After it was decided to bring in a second pair of detectives (due to D'Onofrio becoming clinically exhausted), it was announced that the second pair would have Chris Noth, reprising his role as Mike Logan from the original series. And recent trailers have revealed that the next detective on the show, the, would be played by Jeff Goldblum.
 * And then, after D'Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe left the show in the 8th Season, Goldblum had an entire season to himself. However, middling ratings created a threat of cancellation, so he ended up jumping the ship and didn't renew his contract. So now what? Will they just stop the series? Wait... VINCENT D'ONOFRIO IS COMING BACK??? WITH KATHRYN ERBE??????? WOO-HOO!!! (and a nice inversion of Final Season Casting, to boot)
 * The new Knight Rider show has a fair share of haters, especially fans of the old series. But it seems like the producers were paying attention to the Transformers fandom and they have revealed an episode where a villain from the old series returns, KITT's Evil Counterpart KARR. To top it off, they also brought back the original voice actor for KARR, who is... yes, Peter Cullen. The show is still hated, but no one can argue that bit of casting.
 * Given that the new KARR looks more like Optimus Prime than the old KARR, one wonders if this isn't just a happy coincidence.
 * Power Rangers RPM? Oh joy. Huh? What's this? WHOA! THAT was POWER RANGERS!? AWESOME!!!
 * The fact that "Venjix" was the name of the Big Bad in the (in)famous episode "Forever Red" also helps.
 * Not to mention the return of long-time PR writer and story editor Judd Lynn.
 * After Eddie Guzelian was ousted.
 * Power Rangers Dino Thunder? Wait...did I just see a Red T-Rex Zord? What is this...? IS THAT TOMMY?!
 * To a much earlier extent Power Rangers in Space.
 * Power Rangers Lost Galaxy had people on the theme song. And the Starship Troopers props.
 * Haim Saban buying the entire Power Rangers franchise back from Disney? Are pigs flying? Is this the end of the world? Guess not, and the news sounds so awesome! Power Rangers is back!
 * And not only that, but it's being shown on Nickelodeon! One of the few networks that has been able to avert most of the plague of Network Decay going around.
 * The fact that the original theme song was played during one of the Power Rangers Samurai promos makes it a little more promising. The fans squeed when they heard that tune again!
 * Bulk is back, bitches!
 * Unfortunately, the rejoicing subsided throughout most of the adult fandom the moment Power Rangers Samurai aired.
 * They're playing a Mighty Morphin Power Rangers episode each day for 145 days starting Sept. 8 on http://www.powerrangers.com . And it doesn't have the changes.
 * Man, Operation Overdrive stinks. Anniversary episode... Disney Ranger, Disney Ranger, Disney Ranger, Bridge, but still... FUCK YEAH! ADAM!!
 * All 18 seasons on Power Rangers on Netflix, plus the Movies, VR Troopers and 'Big Bad Beetleborgs. HELL YES.
 * And now they are all coming to DVD.
 * Family Feud, in the first John O'Hurley season, fashioned the set into an updated version of the classic Richard Dawson/Ray Combs set.
 * What's this? Million Dollar Password? Oh, they're just twisting the classic to fit in with today's big money shows. It's actually more like Pyramid and...
 * Oh, Betty White is going to be on an episode? When's it on????
 * NO, NOT BETTY WHITE!
 * They're making The Sarah Connor Chronicles, a TV show based on the Terminator franchise, WITHOUT Arnold Schwarzenegger? - Hold on - they're replacing him with RIVER TAM!!!
 * Man, the third season of Lost has really sucked, what with Hydra Island and Bai Ling and Nikki and Paulo. BUT WAIT HOLY CRAP !
 * The New York television station WPIX 11 is known for doing this a lot. Even as they became a partial O&O of The WB and later an affiliate of The CW (obviously having to use their programming as well as others that appeal to modern audiences; i.e. Jerry Springer, Friends reruns, etc.), they would often present nods to their past, especially for those who grew up with the station in the '70s and '80s. Among them have been: Honeymooners marathons on New Year's Day; a retrospective on The Magic Garden; the Halloween 2008 return of Chiller Theatre; and one of the most popular, the return of the Christmas Day Yule Log since 2001. For a time they used to have a prime time block of '70s sitcoms on Saturdays, and for their 60th anniversary, a marathon was dedicated to classic programs that used to be seen on WPIX.
 * Of course the most visible Fandom Rejoice moment now would be the fact that the station has stripped itself of the "CW" logo and goes by "PIX 11" (complete with slightly updated version of the "Circle 11" logo it used in its heyday).
 * With Season 2 gone and done, and Season 3 scripts about three-quarters of the way through, Heroes was looking less and less like must-see TV. And then they rehired Bryan Fuller of Pushing Daisies as Writing Counselor. Yes, the guy who wrote the episode "Company Man".
 * Kamen Rider Decade worried the fans with the cherry red, plastic-looking costume for the eponymous hero. Then came the trailers showing practically every Rider from the 2000s involved in a single, gigantic battle against an unseen foe (It was the very virst scene of the series). Not to mention the Samurai Sentai Shinkenger crossover and the Kamen Rider Black RX arc (the latter complete with Tetsuo Kurata reprising the role of Kotaro Minami).
 * Five words: All Riders vs. Great Shocker. The rejoicing continues to pile up with each new bit of news, including the fact that Black and Agito will be played by their original actors (Note that the former was before the Black RX arc was announced).
 * Just recently it was announced that pop singer Gackt will be playing Riderman, whose original actor has passed on. The fact that Gackt is One of Us and has healthy respect for Kamen Rider means it counts as an ATFR.
 * Kamen Rider Double recieved a similar treatment. Many made gay jokes over the Fusion Dance aspect. But then they revealed a single detail about the suit that made the fans want in at the press meeting. A silver bifurcated scarf, just like the Showa era Riders.
 * Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger is now pulling what Decade did above, only with all 35 seasons of heroes. With a similar first episode. With almost every ranger ever. That's just under 200 rangers on screen at once fighting an enemy empire. That made the fandom forget that the yellow ranger would eventually find the power to transform into Big One.
 * Movie sounds good. But really old school rangers aren't going to get love because most of them are retired (aside of Kenji Ohba as Denzi Blue)... Akaranger and Big One? That's predictab -- HOLY SHIT ARE THOSE GOGGLE BLACK, DYNA PINK, RED ONE and RED TURBO!?!? Cue Squees from old school fans.
 * AND not to mention a Battle Royale between an army of enlarged villains going up against every single Humongous Mecha in the series.
 * Here's a bigger one recently: Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger vs. Space Sheriff Gavan the Movie!! Yes, you heard it folks, the original Metal Hero is back, in HD even and still with Kenji Ohba as Retsu Ichijouji! Keep your fingers crossed for perhaps a revival of Metal Heroes franchise!
 * They are even planning a Kamen Rider Vs. Super Sentai Crossover movie now!
 * With George R.R. Martin being personally involved, fans were quietly optimistic about the adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire. The first bit of casting news, Peter Dinklage as Tyrion, was widely accepted as a perfect bit of dream casting. Then we get Sean Bean as Ned Stark. Yeah. It's perfectly OK to be excited now.
 * Then one of the last decisions to be announced: Ronon as Khal Drogo. Best. Casting decision. Ever.
 * Aiden Gillan from The Wire as Littlefinger has gotten a fair amount of squees.
 * Detective Boyle is King Robert? Awesome!
 * A lot of these moments happened as the show progressed:
 * Who the hell is this guy playing Syrio Forel? Syrio's bald, not an effemi...effem....OMG THIS IS SOOOOO AWESOME!!
 * Sarah Connor is Cersei Lannister? Really? Oh...WOW!
 * "I'm just worried about the child actors - you know what they can sometimes be cra...AMAZING."
 * One of the last roles to be filled: Tywin Lannister. Who do we get? Charles Dance. And he's a fan of the books.
 * Well, the first season is over, and it was AWESOME!! But the second season doesn't start till Spring 2012. NOOOOOOOOO..wait, THE MAN HIMSELF is writing the script for the Battle of the Blackwater episode? YES!!
 * Gwendoline Christie as Brienne. Though there are inevitably still some complaints that she's too good-looking for the hideously plain Action Girl, we can still be thankful that she's not some supermodel, and Martin himself approved of the casting. Now that pictures are out of Christie in costume, any and all doubts should be alleviated.
 * Natalie Dormer (from The Tudors) as Margaery Tyrell has sparked this sort of reaction, as well.
 * THE REEDS WILL BE IN SEASON THREE!
 * A remake of The Prisoner? Oh man, it's gonna be a lame Americanized hack job, etcetera... But then, Ian McKellen said... "Be seeing you". And There Was Much Rejoicing.
 * So we all thought for a while that Walking with Dinosaurs was just a documentary done in a Follow the Leader to Jurassic Park... until the GIANT DINO-DOLPHIN BURSTS OUT OF THE SEA AND EATS A LAND-WALKING DINO.
 * Gameshow Marathon is going to be hosted by Ricki Lake? RICKI F'N LAKE?!!? And C-list celebrities will be playing all the ga...oh wow, is that a recreation of the CBS Match Game set? And the NBC version of Card Sharks, going back to the ORIGINAL rules??? And the Big Board lives!
 * Michael Schumacher's coming back to Formula One? Oh fuck yeah, I'm watching again!
 * The average Discworld fan's reaction to the The Colour of Magic miniseries news. "Meh, that really wasn't one of his best books. And David Jason as Rincewind? Are they kidding? HOLY CRAP, JEREMY IRONS IS PLAYING THE PATRICIAN! Tim Curry AS TRYMON! Christopher Lee AS DEATH! THIS IS GOING TO BE AWESOME!"
 * Oh, they're making a new superhero drama on NBC called The Cape. Eh, we've already got one superhero drama wait is that Keith David and is that Summer Glau and holy shit this is going to be awesome!
 * Glee was announced to be getting a second AND third season before its first season was even finished airing. Needless to say the fans were pleased.
 * Speaking of Glee, the recent addition of Darren Criss to the cast has excited a large portion of the gleeks.
 * Two fandoms rejoiced at once when it was announced that Joss Whedon was going to direct an episode. More rejoicing when it was revealed that Neil Patrick Harris was guest starring in the episode. YES PLEASE!
 * Idina Menzel guest-starring in Glee was a big one, but the rejoicing hit stratospheric levels once it was revealed that she.
 * Charice.
 * That sound you heard was a million  fangirls Squeeing.   was even a trending topic on Twitter within minutes of it airing.
 * The above was made all the more significant because fans thought they were getting let down again when Misery, which was thought to  was just another Warblers number. The reaction: It's just going to be another UST-filled epi....holy shit!   just said he wants to sing at Regionals with  ? He picked   as their duet? HOLY SHIT  !
 * The news that Darren Criss and the Warblers will be releasing an album of their own was greeted with multiple, ear-piercing squeals.
 * However there was an aversion for the first confirmed song of the prom episode. Friday.
 * No doubt quite a few will rejoice when they hear that Finn and Rachel WON'T be going through any more drama. Of course, half of them are genuine shippers and the other half is utterly sick of Finchel drama.
 * Well done, SVU. You've killed off yet another AD- hey, is that Alex Cabot? Boy, is Liv going to be pleased to see you!
 * Victorious is a nice show, but it might be even better if some of the other characters got some time in the spotlight... Wait, did you say Ariana Grande and Liz Gillies would be performing? A duet, no less!?
 * Well, these Tori/Jade fights that end with Tori winning and Jade getting humiliated are making the show completely unbearable. They're practically digging their own gra...wait, what's that? They're gonna cover a JACKSON 5 SONG?! COUNT ME IN!
 * Tori and Jade's Playdate. That is all. *Cue wild screams of joy from the Jori shippers*
 * Pretty much every announcement regarding the Live Action Adaptation of The Walking Dead has gotten this reaction. First came the news that Frank Darabont, maker of The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, two of the greatest films of The Nineties, was the executive producer, and was writing and directing the pilot. Then came the fact that Robert Kirkman was directly involved as a part of the creative team, including writing the fourth episode. And then came the trailer and the behind-the-scenes footage, which revealed that AMC is not holding back one bit on the violence.
 * Joss Whedon is making a new show! And it stars Eliza Dushku! Wait... is she about to kiss a sexily scarred Amy Acker?! And she's wearing DOMINATRIX GEAR this episode? And she seems to have been Schoolgirl Lesbians with Summer Glau?!?!
 * Many people like to pretend Season 8 of Smallville didn't exist. Season 9 had mixed but better results. So people were a bit skeptical about Season 10....wait... is the final Big Bad! The Suicide Squad! The possibility of  ! Well okay I gue...huh...John Schnider AND John Glover are going to have guest roles! OH MY GOD,  . Yeah, this is gonna be awesome!
 * Callum Blue returning for an episode? Cool!
 * Michael Rosenbaum coming back for the series finale? Holy crap!!!
 * How about the Justice Society of America? In a two-parter? Written by Geoff Johns?
 * The news that Margaret Mountford would be returning for the interview episode in Series 6 of The Apprentice (UK) was greeted with widespread jubilation.
 * Wait, another superhero story on NBC? Yawn-- Is that Keith David and Summer Glau? In the same movie? While the nerds of the internet go Nerdgasm in the corner, you can be damn sure there will be rejoicing.
 * Rejoicing, yes, but evidently this did not translate into anyone actually bothering to watch the show.
 * Fringe - Leonard Nimoy as William Bell. Anyone?
 * Criminal Minds No more JJ or Prentiss? Forget it,I'm done with this show...Wait JJ's coming back as a regular next season? YES YES YES!
 * And now Prentiss is coming back!?! OMG YES!
 * iCarly has been so-so lately... Wait, Jane Lynch as Sam's mom??  A CROSSOVER WITH Victorious? THIS SEASON IS THE BEST YET!!!
 * To Seddiers, Yes, but to Creddiers, Their Mileage WON'T Vary.
 * Now that the Seddie arc is over with the Seddie ship NEVER to be revisited again, Everyone is rejoicing.
 * Three Words. Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza.
 * The Australian series Underbelly didn't need to do this as it was already a smash hit, however there was a promo that introduced the characters...was that Tom Croydon?
 * We want '90s Nick! We want '90s Nick! We want-oh, hey, Kenan Thompson! Got any good news? You say that Teen Nick will have a nightly block of Nickelodeon shows from the '90s? Aww, yeah!
 * Wait...STICK STICKLY IS COMING BACK??? YEAH!!!
 * Brian Blessed is going to be in the new series of QI? On the Christmas episode? SIGN ME UP, PRONTO.
 * The rotation of guest announcers on Wheel of Fortune following longtime announcer Charlie O'Donnell's death. Almost everyone was pulling for Jim Thornton, since he was the only one who seemed to put any enthusiasm into his work. Finally, at the end of season 28, he was confirmed as the permanent announcer.
 * A television series of the book Good Omens... ehh... the film never happened and that was fortunate so perhaps th- Terry Jones is in charge?! YES!
 * They're making a new Cosmos... with Neil de Grasse Tyson.
 * And Seth Mac Farlane is producing it, with the intention of using his clout at Fox to get the show on a prime time slot.
 * A TV series of American Gods is being made, with Neil Gaiman writing for it.
 * Arrested Development is coming back for another season? Now I can die happy.
 * Billy Crystal's going to host the Oscars again!
 * The Closer is ending in summer 2012? OH NO! Wait... did you just say there's going to be a Spin-Off?? Starring Mary McDonnell as Sharon Raydor?? OH DEAR GOD YES PLEASE!!
 * Nickelodeon's shows today really suck. SpongeBob's down to it's doom. I wish they revived th--wait a minute. THEY'RE BRINGING BACK Figure It Out??!?!?!?!?!?! AND THEY HAVE AN AWESOME NEW SET TO DO THE SHOW IN?!?!?!?! AND DID I JUST SEE JENNETTE FREAKING MCCURDY PUT ON SAFETY GOGGLES BEFORE BEING SLIMED TO DEATH?!?!?!?! (head explodes into mushroom cloud in happiness)
 * FX is making an Anger Management TV series? Oh, god. It's gonna suck without Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler. It'll be even worse because none of the original actors are reprising their r--WAIT!! Charlie Sheen'S TAKING JACK'S PLACE?!?!?!?!?! AFTER BEING FIRED BY THE EVIL CBS EXECUTIVES FROM Two and A Half Men?!?!?!?!?! EPIC WINNING!