Few figures in American historyare as divisiveas Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer. He’s been hailed as a hero and martyr by some, and vilified as a brash fool who got what he deserved at the Battle of the Little Bighorn by others. Public opinion has always been split between the two, andthe divide becomes greateras time places much-needed perspective on Custer as a man. But even in 1967, that divide was wide enough that the decision to move forward with a TV series about Custerwas questionable at best. Yet it happened, and on September 6th of that year, ABC premieredCuster… and came to quickly regret it.
The Controversy Over ‘Custer’ Came Before It Even Aired
According toFrank Glicksman, producer of the series,Custerbegan life as a proposed feature film based on a book byDavid Humphreys Miller. However, the cost of building sets and hiring cast and crew was deemed to be too expensive, and the project was shelved,only to be reimagined as a TV series, taking place before the events at Little Bighorn. When Glicksman was handedCuster, he had a passing knowledge of Custer,but was quickly schooled on, as the show’s opening says, “the most controversial figure in all military history.” “Pamphlets and letters were slipped under my door. Pamphlets were left at the studio gate. I suddenly realized there was a big [Native American] lobby, and decidedly antagonistic,” Glicksman says in the previously citedOgsdenburg Journal. Letters also arrived from Civil War students, both pro-Custer and anti-Custer.
It didn’t stopCusterfrom hitting the air, andWayne Maunder, starring as the titular character,brought a dashing ruggedness to his portrayal. This Custer wasnot only adept at military strategyand maneuvers but, as the review of the first episode in theSouthwest Timesnotes, just as capable with his fists. In that episode, Custer engages in a fist-fight with a 6-foot, 6-inches private — a no-holds-barred match between the two to establish authority — a plot point so ridiculously out of touch with historical accuracy it would make Custer’s biggest proponents shake their heads.It became clear that the objective was to marry those disparate extremes of Custer, as hero and as devil, vacillating between the two to deliver a Custer that would end up being neither.
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Lots of Native Americans and Only a Few Viewers Give ‘Custer’ Its Last Stand
That lack of definition, in addition to simply not being all that great,madeCustera target for critics, who were universal in their disdain of the show. Retrospective appraisals, even, have not been kind,with one sourcecalling it a “rather drab, low-budget serial,” andanother saying, “No other Western save forThe Men From Shilohtwo years later was so ruthlessly derided.” Viewers, too, showed little interest inCuster, which certainly didn’t help.
Butwhat ultimately scuttledCusterwas a concerted protest from Native American groups,who criticized the seriesas “glorifying Custer.” (And they weren’t exactly wrong.) The Tribal Indians Land Rights Associationkick-started the effortto getCusterbanned, leading to the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) and other groups protesting ABC over the series. That effort, however, didn’t really make progress until Yakima tribal lawyerJames Hoviscame up with the idea for every tribe to file for equal time against ABC’s local affiliates under theFCC Fairness Doctrine. It’s speculated, but not confirmed, thatit would have cost ABC up to $3,000 per complaint if every tribe demanded FCC hearings. The legal strategy to air complaints was an effective one.
WithCusterbeing attacked on multiple fronts, ABC finally caved and on June 30, 2025,the series came to an end after only 17 episodes had aired. It would still be years beforeNative Americans would be depicted fairlyon TVand in film, but it was asignificant milestone in that history. Ironically,Custercame to an end long before it had the opportunity to dramatize the Battle of the Little Bighorn, where the real Custer and his 7th Cavalry Regiment met their end,either at the hands of bloodthirsty savagesas Custer proponents claim, or by a people that stood up and fought to prevent their genocide at the hands of people invading their land. And as time goes on, history rightly sides with the latter.
Custer: The Complete Seriesis available for purchase in the U.S. on Amazon
Custer (1967)
Set in the post-Civil War era, Custer follows the adventures of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer as he leads the 7th Cavalry Regiment in the American frontier, facing challenges from Native American tribes, outlaws, and the harsh conditions of the west.
