Decoy (TV series)

Decoy
Beverly Garland as Officer Casey Jones in Decoy (1958)
Also known as	'Decoy Police Woman'
Genre	Crime drama
Written by	Jerome Coopersmith Don Ettlinger Steven Gardner Abram S. Ginnes Leon Tokatyan
Directed by	David Alexander Michael Gordon Stuart Rosenberg Teddy Sills Arthur H. Singer
Starring	Beverly Garland
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	39
Production
Executive producer(s)	Everett Rosenthal
Producer(s)	David Alexander Stuart Rosenberg Arthur H. Singer
Cinematography	Maurice Hartzband
Running time	30 mins.
Distributor	Peter Rodgers Organization
Release
Original network	Syndication
Picture format	Black-and-white
Audio format	Monaural
Original release	October 14, 1957 – July 7, 1958

Decoy (also titled Decoy Police Woman) is a groundbreaking American crime drama television series created for syndication and initially broadcast from October 14, 1957 to July 7, 1958, with thirty-nine 30-minute black-and-white episodes. It was the first American police series with a female protagonist.^[1] Many Decoy episodes are in the public domain.^[2]

Synopsis

The series starred Beverly Garland as Casey Jones, a female police officer who is often assigned to work undercover (hence becoming the "decoy" of the title). The cast changed each week with Garland the only main continuing character, although there were several recurring characters, mostly her commanding officer and immediate colleagues.

The series was inspired by Jack Webb's Dragnet, set in Los Angeles, California, and used a similar format to that series, with Jones portrayed as a serious, by-the-book, yet sympathetic cop with no personal life outside of her job. In the episode "The Sound of Tears", she reveals that the man she loved was a police officer who was shot and killed by the man he was sent to apprehend.

Decoy is of historical significance as the first American television series to focus on the work of a female police officer. The series also features early performances by such future stars as Larry Hagman and Peter Falk. Each episode is dedicated to the Bureau of Policewomen of the New York Police Department.

Many episodes focus on females being victims of crime, and most episodes ended with Garland breaking the fourth wall and speaking directly to the audience about the case just solved.

Guest stars

Edward Asner Martin Balsam Barbara Barrie Frank Campanella Joseph Campanella John Cassavetes Lonny Chapman Albert Dekker Peter Falk Colleen Dewhurst Betty Garde Bruce Gordon Larry Hagman Don Hastings

Arch Johnson Diane Ladd Al Lewis Joanne Linville Ruth McDevitt Kay Medford Lois Nettleton Phyllis Newman Simon Oakland Leo Penn Suzanne Pleshette Frank Silvera Frank Sutton Michael Tolan

DVD releases

Now mostly in the public domain in the United States, about a dozen episodes of the series have so far seen limited release on DVD issues by several different companies.

Episode list

Nº	Title	Directed by:	Written by:	Original air date
1	"Stranglehold"	Don Medford	Steven Gardner	14 October 1957
Casey moves into a seedy rooming house to try to befriend a woman whose former boyfriend was a suspect in a jewel robbery.
2	"The Little Red Clown"	Teddy Sills	Leon Tokatyan	21 October 1957
Casey attempts to locate an artist who has abandoned his young daughter.
3	"The Phoner"	Teddy Sills	Leon Tokatyan	28 October 1957
Casey investigates a series of threatening phone calls made to a woman.
4	"To Trap a Thief"	Teddy Sills	Jerome Coopersmith	4 November 1957
To solve a baffling armed robbery case, Casey assumes the identity of a blackmailer, then acts as an intermediary between the victim and the "perpetrator."
5	"Dream Fix"	Teddy Sills	Steven Gardner	11 November 1957
Casey poses as a nurse in a sanatorium to trace the source of a stream of illegal narcotics.
6	"The Savage Payoff"	Teddy Sills	(Unknown)	18 November 1957
Casey is assigned to investigate whether players on a college basketball team are fixing games.
7	"Deadly Corridor"	Teddy Sills	Leon Tokatyan	25 November 1957
Casey poses as a prisoner in a women's jail in order to apprehend a murderer.
8	"Escape Into Danger"	Teddy Sills	(Unknown)	2 December 1957
Casey tries to find a woman who has fled believing she murdered her husband.
9	"The Glass Necklace"	Teddy Sills	(Unknown)	9 December 1957
In order to lure a successful burglar into a trap, Casey poses as a wealthy woman with an expensive jewelry collection.
10	"The Scapegoat"	Teddy Sills	(Unknown)	16 December 1957
A woman, who's in jail for embezzling money to care for her mentally disabled son, escapes.
11	"Two Days to Kill"	Stuart Rosenberg	(Unknown)	23 December 1957
Casey is assigned to protect a witness to a murder, but the killer manages to track down the women to the hotel room where they are hiding.
12	"Queen of Diamonds"	Teddy Sills	(Unknown)	30 December 1957
Casey goes undercover as a nightclub photographer.
13	"My Brother's Killer"	Stuart Rosenberg	(Unknown)	6 January 1958
Casey is assigned to arrest an escaped convict who has committed numerous hold-ups and murders since breaking out of prison.
14	"Bullet of Hate"	Teddy Sills	Don Ettlinger	13 January 1958
Casey believes a teenage girl's story and attempts to clear her of a murder charge.
15	"Death Watch"	Stuart Rosenberg	(Unknown)	20 January 1958
Casey stumbles onto a murder-for-hire organization while investigating a shoplifting gang.
16	"Odds Against the Jockey"	Teddy Sills	(Unknown)	27 January 1958
In order to get a lead, Casey haunts the race track where a gambler was recently murdered.
17	"Dressed for the Kill"	Stuart Rosenberg	(Unknown)	3 February 1958
Casey poses as a model to investigate a garment district murder.
18	"An Eye for an Eye"	Teddy Sills	Mel Goldberg	10 February 1958
Casey pretends to be a drug addict in order to get evidence against a large illegal narcotics ring.
19	"The Challenger"	Stuart Rosenberg	Steven Gardner	17 February 1958
Casey tries to prevent a mobster from buying a up-and-coming boxer's contract.
20	"Across the World"	Teddy Sills	Cy Chermak	24 February 1958
When the new owner of an import/export business is murdered, Casey poses as her heir to get evidence against the gun runners who are using the company as a front for their criminal activities.
21	"The Showplace"	(Unknown)	(Unknown)	3 March 1958
Casey pretends to be a nightclub entertainer in order to investigate a murder.
22	"Reasonable Doubt"	(Unknown)	(Unknown)	10 March 1958
A man is falsely accused of robbery.
23	"Night of Fire"	Don Medford	Jerome Coopersmith	17 March 1958
Casey takes a job as a factory file clerk in order to investigate a suspicious fire. Evidence points to a secretary with a history of mental illness, but Casey suspects that an arson ring may be responsible.
24	"Saturday Lost"	Stuart Rosenberg	Leon Tokatyan	24 March 1958
During a murder investigation, Casey arrests a drug-addicted young woman who has lost her memory after an all-night pot party.
25	"High Swing"	David Alexander	Don Ettlinger	31 March 1958
Casey goes undercover to befriend a seemingly benign elderly couple who are actually plotting a series of muggings and robberies.
26	"Earthbound Satellite"	Michael Gordon	Saul Levitt	7 April 1958
Sonny Van Brock, part of high society, commits suicide after getting in way over his head at an elite gambling salon. Casey goes undercover as a visiting member of Seattle society who loves the roulette wheel, hoping to nail George Courtney, the man running the gaming operation.
27	"The Sound of Tears"	Marc Daniels	Lillian Andrews	14 April 1958
Ken Morgan is murdered by a woman who clearly had strong feelings for or against him. She unloaded the contents of a revolver into him. Casey goes to work investigating the women in his life: his domineering mother who wouldn't let another female have him; the young woman who's practically a member of their family; and the ex-fiance whom Ken's mother made him give up.
28	"Ladies' Man"	Stuart Rosenberg	Abram S. Ginnes	21 April 1958
Posing as an insurance agent, Mike Bergen enlists a naive woman to take a hidden camera photo of a suspect. The camera turns out to be a gun and the shooting victim is his wife. Casey goes undercover to a hunting lodge in the Catskills to smoke Bergen out into the open.
29	"Cry Revenge"	David Alexander	Abram S. Ginnes	28 April 1958
Casey gets involved in the lives of a woman and her daughter when they receive a series of threatening phone calls. The situation takes a strange turn when the young woman marries the man who makes the calls.
30	"The Gentle Gun-Man"	Michael Gordon	Mel Goldberg	5 May 1958
Casey goes undercover to gather evidence against a gang that deals in illegal weapons.
31	"Night Light"	Stuart Rosenberg	Frances Frankel	12 May 1958
Casey goes undercover to recover a stolen ruby necklace before it can be fenced. Her investigation leads to an ex-convict who is inadvertently leading his teenage son into a life of crime because of the youngster's love for his father.
32	"Fiesta at Midnight"	Michael Gordon	Jerome Coopersmith	19 May 1958
Newly arrived in New York, a young Puerto Rican man is arrested for robbery and assault. He claims to have been with two women at the time of the theft, but one won't identify him and the other can't be found.
33	"The Lieutenant Had a Son"	David Alexander	(Unknown)	26 May 1958
An Army officer is driven to violence by his ex-wife.
34	"Shadow of Van Gogh"	Michael Gordon	Saul Levitt	2 June 1958
A struggling artist becomes obsessed with Van Gogh, dressing like him and painting like him. When he is innocently coaxed into illegally copying a Van Gogh original, Casey, investigating the sale of the forgery, must find out who hired him.
35	"Tin Pan Payoff"	David Alexander	Steven Gardner	9 June 1958
Casey investigates the murder of a songwriter.
36	"Blind Date"	Stuart Rosenberg	Nicholas E. Baehr	16 June 1958
Casey goes on a blind date in hopes of arresting a businessman awaiting the delivery of a large amount of stolen money.
37	"The Come Back"	David Alexander	Don Ettlinger	23 June 1958
When a roll of blank parimutuel tickets are stolen from a race track, Casey attempts to convince the gang responsible that she's a cop on the take who can help them pass the counterfeit ducats through crooks she's blackmailing.
38	"First Arrest"	Arthur H. Singer	Jerome Coopersmith	30 June 1958
Casey goes undercover as an exotic dancer at a carnival sideshow, and begins to suspect that a fellow carnival worker is fencing stolen property.
39	"The Lost Ones"	Arthur H. Singer	(Unknown)	7 July 1958
Casey's visit to a girl she arrested and later befriended takes a turn into the macabre when she discovers the girl's brutal father dead. The girl claims to have shot him, but Casey isn't so sure she believes her.

References

1. My Three Sons stepmom dies, CBC News, December 7, 2008
2. "Decoy", Festival Films

External links

• Decoy at the Internet Movie Database
• Decoy at TV.com
• Decoy TV Episodes posted in the Internet Archive's Classic TV collection.