Johnson's breakthrough role came less than a month after she moved to Los Angeles, when she was selected to portray Kimberly Hart, the Pink Ranger, in "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers", the first installment of the Power Rangers franchise. Despite the series being a huge success and having brought Johnson international recognition as an actress, the show brought her little financial security, as she and the others were paid only $600 a week for their work on the show, which included stunt work and public appearances; none of the cast received any royalty payments from re-runs of episodes they appeared in. As a non-union show, physical danger on set presented a very real threat to Johnson; while filming ', she was almost set on fire during a stunt and, during ', she was almost electrocuted. Johnson ultimately made the decision to leave the show in 1995, passing the role of the Pink Ranger to Australian actress Catherine Sutherland. In an appearance on "I Love the '90s", Johnson jokingly stated that having been the Pink Power Ranger was something she would "never live down." In later years, Johnson stated that becoming famous from the show was at times overwhelming and had given her nightmares, but that overall, she learned many things and is grateful to the show and her fans. In all, Johnson's character has appeared in 138 episodes in the franchise, her latest TV appearance being in a 2020 episode of "Power Rangers Beast Morphers". She, alongside former co-star Jason David Frank, made a cameo appearance in the 2017 film "Power Rangers", though not as Power Rangers.