Decoy

Back in 1957, women were seen as homemakers, school teachers, nurses, sales clerks, and those roller skating waitresses at a "drive-in" diner. If they were a bit more down on their luck, they might be prostitutes, exotic dancers or bar waitresses on the seedier side of town.

But there was another role for particular women who could handle it, who were strong enough, brave enough and ready enough to step into it. And that's where this show tells its story.

At the beginning of each episode of "Decoy," there was a block of text that read as follows:

Presented as a tribute to the Bureau of Policewomen Police Department, City of New York.

This was the first time in television history that a woman was the lead character in a police-based action-adventure series, and the show was popular, though it wasn't available on a network, so it had a bit less reach. "Decoy" was telecast nationally, just not necessarily at the same time in every city and admittedly wasn't available everywhere, because of the limitations of syndication.

The decoy of "Decoy" is Detective Casey Jones, played by Beverly Garland, who goes undercover into the world of third shifters, nightclubs, and other sordid or common jobs that women might have to eke out a living at the time. She plays the roles in order to investigate cases of theft, drug trafficking, arson, racketeering, even murder.

As was the custom at this time, we never see or hear anything about the lead character's personal life, except what leaks out in her brief discussions with her colleagues, nearly all of whom are male. It's strictly police work and lots of it, with Casey needed to become proficient in all sorts of skills to find her way into the lives of the criminals and take them down. Conversely, Casey didn't have a partner, per se, and worked at night usually, so there really wasn't any time for blithe discussions about hobbies and relationships. That was important because it kept Casey a rock solid, no-nonsense character.

It was a tour-de-force role for Ms. Garland, who weekly got to do various things, singing, dancing, emoting, and fighting for her life as she was asked to step into the roles required of various jobs every week. She often had to play innocent, dumb, weak and vulnerable, though audiences knew that Casey was none of those things, which is another element that added quality to her portrayal.

New York played a part because the seamy underbelly of The City is always there and the need to stop crime when and where it happens is a regular element that, like NYC itself, constantly changed and grew. Current footage around town was included in each episode, which gave the series value as a Time Capsule for what NYC looked like at that moment, with the Times Square area being prominently featured, both in plots and in the program's opening titles.

"Decoy" wasn't canceled; it was ended because the producers ran out of cash to keep it going. This was well before a program like this could earn the kind of bucks that today's syndicated shows get. And it took nearly twenty years before Angie Dickinson took the titular role of "Police Woman" and a network finally picked up the concept of a woman undercover cop doing the job.

In a way, it's sad that more people don't know about this series and its groundbreaking star, who eventually played the part of Fred MacMurray's wife on the long running sitcom "My Three Sons" and played Amanda's mom on the comedy/drama "Scarecrow and Mrs. King," two roles that fell into the "typical" category for women to play on television.

The good thing is that "Decoy" is essentially in the Public Domain, so nearly all of the episodes are available to view on YouTube, and with a thirty minute run time (about 24 minutes without commercials), they are brief to watch and mostly pretty entertaining. Not a lot of lag time when you're setting up an episode, getting the baddies to fall into the trap and hauling them down to Central Booking.

This is presented as a tribute to a great, somewhat forgotten actress, Beverly Garland, who deserves to be remembered for her versatility, her balance and her convincing portrayal of a police officer at a time when only the guys were doing the tough stuff.

One would call "Decoy" for what it is... a female "Dragnet", with the beguiling Beverly Garland ("My Three Sons", "Scarecrow and Mrs. King") and the city of New York filling in for Jack Webb and sunny Los Angeles. But once you get caught in its premise, it's easy to overlook other aspects of the show. Such as the fact that Ms. Garland is required, in her role as undercover policewoman Patricia "Casey" Jones, to play a different role in each of the 39 episodes filmed. In one episode, she could play an exotic dancer in a carnival, in the next, she can play an addict, and so on and so on, all in the guise of a crime fighter. Whether Angie Dickinson, as Pepper Anderson - "Police Woman", took her cues from Beverly Garland is open to debate, but it's clear to say that Ms. Garland's Casey Jones is clearly a trailblazer for other lady lawmen to follow.

As for the other co-star, New York City... "Decoy" isn't the first series filmed on location in the Big Apple, nor was it the last, but it was certainly one of the most effective in terms of its film noir look and fully fleshed characters. This isn't "Naked City", but it's as close a similarity as you can get on a shoestring budget. And it does the city justice, as "Naked City" would do the next year. Check it out on DVD when you get the chance.

"Decoy" is a Pyramid Production in association with Official Films, Inc. with technical assistance from the Policewoman's Bureau, NYC Police Department. 39 episodes were filmed on location in 1957.

This show took me completely by surprise. When it showed up on my suggested list, on a whim I watched the 1st episode and was hooked.

It's been called the female Dragnet but in my opinion it is better. The topics are timely even for today and definitely ahead of it's time for 1958. Filmed entirely in NYC, it is a enlightening snapshot of the city in the 50's with many of the structures looking exactly the same to this day. Also of note are the many actors appearing in Decoy who would go on to become household names.

Don't let the name or age of the show dissuade you. I think American TV audiences were just not ready for an empowered female lead in a series and that's a shame because personally, I would have liked to have seen a few more seasons.

A couple of years ago, I was able to get a set of 5 DVDs that contained 20 of the 39 episodes of Decoy, and it was great to watch them again after so long. Back when Decoy aired in 1957-58, I was 12 and 13 years old and had something of a crush on Beverly Garland. Recently, I found an advertisement--for the first time--for a DVD set with all 39 episodes. And the price was hard to beat as well. Naturally, I ordered the set and have been enjoying watching them all over again.

The picture quality is excellent, but at times the sound is a little muffled; however, all in all, it is great viewing. For anyone who enjoys the genre of Dragnet, Police Woman, etc., this is a great series that ran, sadly, for only one season. Yet, I consider it to be a classic.

This past Christmas, I found a $3 discount DVD with four episodes of this obscure 1950s TV series. I was intrigued about a cop show featuring a female police officer dating back to the Father Knows Best and I Love Lucy era. Plus I admit I thought Beverly Garland looked cute in uniform.

I was very pleasantly surprised to discover - at least based upon the 4 episodes on the DVD - that Decoy was an excellent, ahead-of-its-time show. Yes, it was very much a forerunner of Police Woman, only without the cheesiness. In fact the show felt a lot more like Dragnet - complete with Garland providing a Jack Webb-style narration.

The 4 episodes all focused on women being victimized by crime, and Policewoman Casey Jones' efforts to right wrongs, often acting undercover (in one episode she becomes what is called a "honey trap" to attract a bad guy). Despite it being 1957-58, an era when women were not expected to be action heroes, Beverly Garland provides a surprising amount of action in an appealingly understated way, whether it be sneaking through a forest to snatch a hostage to freedom, or (in the DVD's most memorable moment) outdrawing a bad guy with a rifle!

Casey Jones is a character who takes her work very seriously. Perhaps too seriously -- but then Joe Friday was never a bundle of laughs, either. If I had to pick a modern-day equivalent to Casey, it would have to be Mariska Harigtay's policewoman in Law and Order Special Victims Unit. The two characters have much in common.

Sadly, Decoy only ran one season (and it looks as if some episodes were in cold storage for a couple of years before being aired), and while there are a few DVDs out there with episodes, the series looks set to fade into undeserved oblivion. Personally, with the popularity of such female action hero series as Alias and La Femme Nikita on TV and on DVD these days, I think a DVD release of the Decoy series would be a great move. Decoy is undeniably an historical document - but it stands up well more than 45 years later.