Star Trek: The Original Series the 23rd century bearing a crew dedicated to exploring the Milky Way Galaxy. Roddenberry noted a number of influences on his idea, some of which includes A. E. van Vogt's tales of the spaceship "Space Beagle", Eric Frank Russell's "Marathon" series of stories, and the film "Forbidden Planet" (1956). Some have also drawn parallels with the television series "Rocky Jones, Space Ranger" (1954), a space opera which included many of the elements that were integral to "Star Trek"—the organization, crew relationships, missions, part of the bridge layout, and some technology. Roddenberry also drew heavily from C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower
Star Trek: The Original Series (and often ridiculed) for their extreme devotion to the show and their encyclopedic knowledge of every episode. Unlike other syndicated reruns, prices for "Star Trek" rose, instead of falling, over time, because fans enjoyed rewatching each episode many, often dozens of, times; "People" in 1977 stated that the show "threatens to rerun until the universe crawls back into its little black hole". By 1986, 17 years after entering syndication, "Star Trek" was the most popular syndicated series; by 1987, Paramount made $1 million from each episode; and by 1994, the reruns still aired in 94% of the United States. From