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 Trek", though he remained nominally in charge as its "executive producer". Roddenberry reduced his direct involvement in "Star Trek" before the start of the 1968–69 television season, and was replaced by Fred Freiberger as the producer of the television series. NBC next reduced "Star Trek's" budget by a significant amount per episode, as the per-minute commercial price had dropped from $39,000 to $36,000 compared to the Season 2 time slot. This caused what many perceive as a significant decline in quality for the 1968–69 season. William Shatner felt that the main characters became increasingly compromised or exaggerated while being involved