the scoop on Cleo"
The notion of a stripper fighting evil is perhaps corny, but the plot didn't really revolve around how the character got to the future. Here's the bigger picture:
After Hercules was cancelled, Renaissance Pictures wanted to replace it with another action-oriented hour, since they had much success with the 2-hour package of Hercules and Xena. A pilot had been shot several years before Called "Amazon High," directed by Michael "Iolaus" Hurst and starring Selma Blair ("Cruel Intentions") as a "valley girl" transported back in time to Amazon pre-history, where she became a great leader. The same idea as Twain's "Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court," by way of Bill and Ted. Danielle (Ephiny) Cormack and Claudia "Farscape" Black played the tow tough Amazons who ultimately became her friends and allies.
But the pilot languished for years, along with a perpetually-in-development idea for a "pirate show" starring Bruce Campbell, especially when "Young Herc" was cancelled. When a replacement was needed for Hercules, Campbell balked at committing to a weekly series which would mean relocating to NZ. So a deal was struck - the "pirate show" would be a half-hour only, and "Amazon High" would be the other component of a "Back 2 Back Action" hour. He would only have to commit to a few months at a time, and his family could stay with him. At the last minute, TPTB decided to revamp "Amazon High" into a futuristic sci-fi show, using the basic modern-girl/fish out of water concept, morphed with influences from the future seen in "The Terminator" movies (evil hovering robots and disguised robotic killers attack the underground remnants of humanity) and in the old sci-fi novella "Tumithak of the Corridors." Plus, the Hong-Kong-style action seen in Xena and Hercules would adapt well to a Matrix-like future. So the valley girl remained the same (she became a community college drama student who moonlighted as an exotic dancer) and the Amazons became futuristic fredom fighters. The botched boob job was essentially a one-time plot device in the first episode to get Cleo to the year 2525, but not have her recovering from a disease or anything.
While Cleo managed to outlast its partner "Jack of All Trades" (the pirate show that developed into a slapstick comedy featuring an American spy donning a Zorro-like mask to fight Napoleon's forces in the South Seas) it was cancelled 2/3 of the way through its second season. In my opinion, it re-invented many traditional sci-fi themes and motifs by adding the same elements we saw in Xena and Hercules - wildly chaotic action sequences and hip comedy.
Following their long standing tradition of casting performers they've worked with before, the valley girl/stripper (who developed into an adorable, plucky, wisecracking ditz) role was given by TPTB to Jennifer Sky, who had played the Amazon Amarise on Xena, as well as guest roles on General Hospital and Buffy. The pragmatic team lerder was played by NY/Cuban actress Gina Torres, who had played the pirate queen Nebula on Hercules, and the tough rebel was played by Canadian fitness star Vicky Pratt, seen as the Amazon Queen Cyane on Xena.
It's not too late! 2 more weeks of Cleopatra 2525 reruns are still airing! (probably at 2 AM in your area!)