Decoy (also titled
Decoy Police Woman) is a groundbreaking
American
crime drama television series which was
created for syndication and
initially broadcast from October 14,
1957 to July 7, 1958, lasting for thirty nine 30-minute black-and-white episodes. It was the
first American police series with a female protagonist.
[91503]
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 and used a similar
format to that series, with Jones being 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 bring in.
Decoy is of historical significance as it was the first
American television series to focus on the work of a female police
officer. The series also featured early performances by actors such
as
Larry Hagman,
Peter Falk,
Al
Lewis and
Martin Balsam. Each
episode was dedicated to the Bureau of Policewomen of the
New York Police Department.
Many episodes focused 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
Notable guest stars include:
DVD releases
Now 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
| Episode # |
Episode Title |
Airdate |
| 1 |
"Stranglehold" |
October 14, 1957 |
| 2 |
"The Little Red Clown" |
October 21, 1957 |
| 3 |
"The Phoner" |
October 28, 1957 |
| 4 |
"To Trap a Thief" |
November 4, 1957 |
| 5 |
"Dream Fix" |
November 11, 1957 |
| 6 |
"The Savage Payoff" |
November 18, 1957 |
| 7 |
"Deadly Corridor" |
November 25, 1957 |
| 8 |
"Escape into Danger" |
December 2, 1957 |
| 9 |
"The Glass Necklace" |
December 9, 1957 |
| 10 |
"The Scapegoat" |
December 16, 1957 |
| 11 |
"Two Days to Kill" |
December 23, 1957 |
| 12 |
"Queen of Diamonds" |
December 30, 1957 |
| 13 |
"My Brother's Killer" |
January 6, 1958 |
| 14 |
"Bullet of Hate" |
January 13, 1958 |
| 15 |
"Death Watch" |
January 20, 1958 |
| 16 |
"Odds Against the Jockey" |
January 27, 1958 |
| 17 |
"Dressed for the Kill" |
February 3, 1958 |
| 18 |
"An Eye for an Eye" |
February 10, 1958 |
| 19 |
"The Challenger" |
February 17, 1958 |
| 20 |
"Across the World" |
February 24, 1958 |
| 21 |
"The Showplace" |
March 3, 1958 |
| 22 |
"Reasonable Doubt" |
March 10, 1958 |
| 23 |
"Night of Fire" |
March 17, 1958 |
| 24 |
"Saturday was Lost" |
March 24, 1958 |
| 25 |
"High Swing" |
March 31, 1958 |
| 26 |
"Earthbound Satellite" |
April 7, 1958 |
| 27 |
"The Sound of Tears" |
April 14, 1958 |
| 28 |
"Ladies' Man" |
April 21, 1958 |
| 29 |
"Cry Revenge" |
April 28, 1958 |
| 30 |
"The Gentle Gunman" |
May 5, 1958 |
| 31 |
"Night Light" |
May 12, 1958 |
| 32 |
"Fiesta at Midnight" |
May 19, 1958 |
| 33 |
"The Lieutenant Had a Son" |
May 26, 1958 |
| 34 |
"Shadow of Van Gogh" |
June 2, 1958 |
| 35 |
"Tin Pan Payoff" |
June 9, 1958 |
| 36 |
"Blind Date" |
June 16, 1958 |
| 37 |
"The Comeback" |
June 23, 1958 |
| 38 |
"First Arrest" |
June 30, 1958 |
| 39 |
"The Lost Ones" |
July 7, 1958 |
External links
Wikis
Map
Search
