Decoy (TV series)

Decoy (also titled Policewoman Decoy)<ref name=st>Template:Cite book</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Many Decoy episodes are in the public domain.<ref>"Decoy", Festival Films</ref>

Synopsis

The series featured Beverly Garland as Patricia "Casey" Jones, a female undercover police officer in New York City.<ref name=tt>Template:Cite book</ref> The undercover nature of Jones's work had her impersonating women in a variety of roles, including gangster's molls, prostitutes, nurses, and singers.<ref name="st" /> 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.<ref name="nyt" />

Garland's Casey Jones was the only regular character in the series, transferring from department to department to work on each case as needed. No other character appeared in more than one episode. Frank Campanella played a police lieutenant who oversaw Jones' case in three episodes, but each of these three lieutenants had different names, and worked in different police divisions.

Popularity

Decoy was ranked among the top-10 syndicated programs, not only during its initial release, but also "long after production closed down".<ref name="st" />

Production

Stuart Rosenberg<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Don Medford were directors of Decoy,<ref name=":0" /> and Steve Gardner was a writer.<ref name="bb" /> The show was filmed by Pyramid Productions,<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> partially on location in New York City. Locations included Greenwich Village, the Lower East Side, Randalls Island, and the South Bronx.<ref name="nyt" /> Studio scenes were filmed in the former Biograph Studios in the Bronx.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Production of the show's pilot began on March 28, 1957, taking seven days for completion.Template:R 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."<ref name="bb">Template:Cite magazine</ref> That sales success included a $600,000 prerelease order from five Westinghouse-owned TV stations and four independent stations.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

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.<ref name="bg">Template:Cite book</ref>

Guest stars

• Mason Adams
• Edward Asner
• Martin Balsam
• Barbara Barrie
• Frank Campanella
• Joseph Campanella
• Lonny Chapman
• Albert Dekker
• Peter Falk
• Colleen Dewhurst
• Betty Garde
• Vincent Gardenia
• Bruce Gordon
• Larry Hagman
• Don Hastings
• William Hickey
• Betty Lou Holland
• Arch Johnson
• Diane Ladd
• Zohra Lampert
• Al Lewis
• Joanne Linville
• Ruth McDevitt
• Kay Medford
• Lois Nettleton
• Phyllis Newman
• Simon Oakland
• Tom Pedi
• Leo Penn
• Suzanne Pleshette
• Joanna Roos
• Norman Rose
• Stefan Schnabel
• Frank Silvera
• Frank Sutton
• Michael Tolan
• Betty Walker

DVD releases

In 2017, Film Chest Media Group released a DVD set containing all 39 episodes.<ref name="nyt">Template:Cite news</ref>

External links

• [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 0050010

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• Decoy TV Episodes posted in the Internet Archive's Classic TV collection.