Custer, also known as The Legend of Custer, is a 17-episode military-Western television series which ran on ABC from September 6 to December 27, 1967, with Wayne Maunder in the starring role of then Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer. Criticizing the series as "glamorizing Custer," a concerted protest headed by the Tribal Indians Land Rights Association successfully halted broadcast of the series under the FCC fairness doctrine.[1]
| Custer | |
|---|---|
 Wayne Maunder as Custer. | |
| Starring | |
| Composers |
|
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 17 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Frank Glicksman |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | September 6 – December 27, 1967 |
Format
editRobert F. Simon played Custer's commanding officer, U.S. General Alfred H. Terry. Slim Pickens starred as California Joe Milner. Michael Dante appeared as Sioux Chief Crazy Horse. Peter Palmer played Sergeant James Bustard, a former Confederate soldier.[2] Grant Woods appeared as Captain Myles Keogh. Read Morgan appeared in the episode "Spirit Woman" in the role of a medicine man.
Guest stars included Lloyd Bochner (as James Stanhope), Rory Calhoun (as Zebediah Jackson), Philip Carey (as Benton Conant), James Daly (as John Rudford), Alexander Davion (as Capt. Marcus A. Reno), Burr DeBenning (as Uvalde), Yvonne De Carlo (as Vanessa Ravenhill), Gene Evans (as Deedricks), Arthur Franz (as Grey Fox and Bledsoe), Billy Gray (as Billy Nixon), Barbara Hale (as Melinda Terry), Stacy Harris (as John Glixton), Earl Holliman (as Dan Samuels), Robert Loggia (as Lt. Carlos Moreno), Darren McGavin (as Jeb Powell), Ralph Meeker (as Kermit Teller), Mary Ann Mobley (as Ann L'Andry), Agnes Moorehead (as Watoma), Edward Mulhare (as Col. Sean Redmond), Kathleen Nolan (as Nora Moffett), Larry Pennell (as Chief Yellow Hawk), Paul Petersen (as Lieutenant Cox), Donnelly Rhodes (as War Cloud), Chris Robinson (as Lt. Tim Rudford), Ned Romero (as Running Feet), Barbara Rush (as Brigid O'Rourke), Albert Salmi (as Capt. John Mark Charrington), William Smith (as Chief Tall Knife), Dub Taylor (as Trader), Ray Walston (as Ned Quimbo), James Whitmore (as Eldo), Terry Wilson (as Brownsmith), and William Windom (as Clark Samson). In the last episode entitled "The Raiders", Custer enlists the aid of Kiowa Indians to help him to locate the parties responsible for a series of wagon train raids.[3]
Maunder was twenty-eight when he was cast as the 28-year-old Custer. The show was canceled due to poor reviews[4] and protests by Native American tribes throughout the United States.[5][6]
Two episodes, No. 1 and No. 6, were later combined and released as a feature length film, entitled "Crazy Horse and Custer, The Untold Story". On June 7, 2016, Custer: The Complete Series (Collector's Edition) was released on dvd by Shout! Factory.
Episodes
edit| No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Sabers in the Sun" | Sam Wanamaker | Samuel A. Peeples | September 6, 1967 |
| 2 | "Accused" | Lawrence Dobkin | Al C. Ward | September 13, 1967 |
| 3 | "Glory Rider" | Lawrence Dobkin | Jack Turley | September 20, 1967 |
| 4 | "To the Death" | Herschel Daugherty | Samuel A. Peeples | September 27, 1967 |
| 5 | "Massacre" | Herschel Daugherty | Daniel Mainwaring | October 4, 1967 |
| 6 | "War Lance and Saber" | Norman Foster | Shimon Wincelberg | October 11, 1967 |
| 7 | "Suspicion" | Alex March | John Dunkel | October 18, 1967 |
| 8 | "Breakout" | László Benedek | Shimon Wincelberg | November 1, 1967 |
| 9 | "Desperate Mission" | László Benedek | Warren Douglas | November 8, 1967 |
| 10 | "Under Fire" | Lawrence Dobkin | Arthur Browne Jr. | November 15, 1967 |
| 11 | "Death Hunt" | Leo Penn | Steve McNeil & Richard Bartlett | November 22, 1967 |
| 12 | "Blazing Arrows" | Christian Nyby | Bob and Wanda Duncan | November 29, 1967 |
| 13 | "Dangerous Prey" | Leo Penn | Richard Sale | December 6, 1967 |
| 14 | "Spirit Woman" | László Benedek | William Blinn | December 13, 1967 |
| 15 | "The Gauntlet" | Don Richardson | Shimon Wincelberg | December 20, 1967 |
| 16 | "The Raiders" | Norman Foster | Shimon Wincelberg | December 27, 1967 |
| 17 | "Pursued" | Leo Penn | John Dunkel | January 3, 1968 |
References
edit- ^ Tahmahkera, Dustin. Tribal Television: Viewing Native People in Sitcoms. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2014, p. 11
- ^ a b Alex McNeil, Total Television, New York: Penguin Books, 1996, 4th ed., p. 190
- ^ "Custer". TV.com. Archived from the original on March 15, 2009. Retrieved January 11, 2009.
- ^ "Time Tunnel".
- ^ Vine., Deloria (1988). Custer died for your sins : an Indian manifesto. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. p. 24. ISBN 0806121297. OCLC 17234301.
- ^ Brian W. Dippie, Custer's Last Stand: The Anatomy of an American Myth. Lincoln, NE, University of Nebraska Press, 1994 ISBN 0803265921, (p.120)