Mark Turner If you asked most people what the first TV series was that told what it was like for women on the police force odds are you would hear POLICE WOMAN with Angie Dickinson. Whoever gives that answer is wrong though. Long before Dickinson went undercover there was a short lived series called DECOY starring Beverly Garland in the title role.Using various real life cases this series used the tried and true format so many police shows at the time did, giving the facts of the case and then going into what progressed from there. In the case of this show it ended each episode with Garland's character Casey Jones talking to the camera and discussing how the events of the show that week affected her.One episode seems like fairly light weight case to be working on, that of a deadbeat dad who disappeared. For me it seemed odd the amount of time spent on this case. With all the other problems in the world I wouldn't think the police would be that active in this case. But then maybe they were at that point in time (the series takes place in the late fifties). Another episode involves a man harassing people on the phone. But then there are more high level cases as well from protecting witnesses to catching murderers.The show doesn't really stand the test of time in the way it's written, shot and performed. It definitely shows its age. But that really doesn't matter. It still provides an entertaining drama for those who love classic golden age television programs. Many will forget that this was the way shows were in those days. Tell a young person that black and white shows were the norm and not the exception and you're likely to get blank stares from them wondering how you could have been alive during such a primitive age.Garland does a fine job in the series and gives her character as much life as the writers would allow. She ended up becoming a familiar face on series television but never seemed to reach mega-star status for some reason. Her most familiar roles were as Barbara Harper, the woman who married Steve Douglas (Fred MacMurray) on MY THREE SONS and as Amanda King's (Kate Jackson) mother on THE SCARECROW AND MRS. KING.If you're a fan of golden age dramas then you'll want to pick this one up. It's offered at an affordable price and the folks at Film Chest have done a great job of cleaning it up in a presentable fashion. To date they're one of the few companies that takes items like this and gives them the credit they're due. Let's hope they continue to do so in the future.

Mike Burroughs 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.

stolfwx Yes, this is a wonderfully gritty, no-nonsense cop yarn. What struck me is: Where's the sexism? Where's the condescension? Where's the "Oh, ya gonna arrest me, Officer Sweetie Pie?" This was the Fifties, right? It's a cop show with a twist: a cop who gets emotional over what she sees and what she has to do. But Casey Jones never, and I mean never, lets it get in the way of her completely professional approach to her job. She works with male officers, and they are nothing if not equals, comrades in arms. And for those of you who know Beverly Garland only from the fluff of My Three Sons, have you got a surprise coming. Great entertainment all the way around. And for something a little snappier, try Front Page Detective.

23skidoo-4 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.