Decoy (TV series) - Definition and Overview

Decoy was a groundbreaking American police procedural television series which was created for syndication in 1957. 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 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 her job.

Decoy is of historical significance as it was the first American television series to focus on the work of a female police officer. Many episodes focused on females being victims of crime and ended with Garland breaking the fourth wall and speaking directly to the audience about the case just solved. Several episodes of the series have seen limited release on DVD.