Decoy (also titled Policewoman Decoy) is an American crime drama television series created for syndication and initially broadcast from October 14, 1957, to July 7, 1958, with 39 black-and-white 30-minute episodes. The series was the first American police series with a female protagonist. Many Decoy episodes are in the public domain.

Synopsis

The series featured Beverly Garland as Patricia "Casey" Jones, a female undercover police officer in New York City. The undercover nature of Jones's work had her impersonating women in a variety of roles, including gangster's molls, prostitutes, nurses, and singers. Jones did not have a partner for her police work, and episodes revealed little about her personal life, with occasional exceptions of references to a love affair with a police officer who died on duty.

Popularity

Decoy was ranked among the top-10 syndicated programs, not only during its initial release, but also "long after production closed down".

Production

Stuart Rosenberg and Don Medford were directors of Decoy, and Steve Gardner was a writer. The show was filmed by Pyramid Productions, partially on location in New York City. Locations included Greenwich Village, the Lower East Side, Randalls Island, and the South Bronx. Studio scenes were filmed in the former Biograph Studios in the Bronx. Production of the show's pilot began on March 28, 1957, taking seven days for completion. In August 1957, trade publication Billboard reported, "the first-run series is off to one of the fastest sales starts in years, particularly with major station purchases." That sales success included a $600,000 prerelease order from five Westinghouse-owned TV stations and four independent stations. Production of the series ended on May 29, 1958, because producers lacked the funds to continue. Reruns were broadcast for seven years using the title Police Woman.

Guest stars

Episodes

DVD releases

In 2017, Film Chest Media Group released a DVD set containing all 39 episodes.