Hatcher studied acting at the American Conservatory Theater. One of her early jobs (in 1984) was as an NFL cheerleader with the San Francisco 49ers. From September 1985 to May 1986 she joined the cast of the TV series "The Love Boat", playing the role of "Amy", one of the "Mermaid" showgirls. This role mainly involved dancing and singing as part of the Mermaids weekly show routine, but had short comedic lines in some episodes, and in one episode she was part of one of the three main storylines for the episode opposite a male guest star. From 1986 to 1989, she appeared in six episodes of the TV series "MacGyver" as talkative but naive "Penny Parker" opposite Richard Dean Anderson's eponymous hero, four of them as the second main lead of the episode.