Star Trek's DeForest Kelley Appeared In A Show That Was An Inspiration For Supernatural

DeForest Kelley might be best known for exploring the final frontier as Dr. Bones McCoy in "Star Trek," but he also appeared in an influential, Earthbound series about exploring America — one that was named for its most famous highway. That show, "Route 66," would later go on to inspire another long-running genre series, "Supernatural."

"Route 66" premiered on CBS on October 7, 1960. Martin Milner and George Maharis starred as Tod Stiles and Buz Murdock, two aimless, wandering friends who drive around the country in a convertible searching for something ineffable. Each episode — which was shot on location across the U.S., in locations as varied as Butte, Montana, Boston, and a Florida swamp — would have the protagonists encounter new people and learn a little something from them. It was kind of like a TV version of Jack Kerouac's novel "On the Road," to the point where Kerouac twice tried suing the show's writer, Stirling Silliphant, for plagiarism.

Kelley was one of the many people who Tod and Buz encountered on their long road trip. He appeared in the 15th episode of the first season, "The Clover Throne," playing a Californian contractor who clashes with the owner of a farmer whose property stands in the way of a new highway expansion. Kelley wasn't the only member of the Starship Enterprise crew to take a ride on "Route 66," either: In 1963, William Shatner appeared in the season four episode "Build Your Houses With Their Backs to the Sea."

"Route 66" continued even after George Maharis left the show in the third season due to health reasons, after which his character, Buz, was replaced by a Vietnam veteran played by Glenn Corbett. Eventually, though, CBS reached the end of the road for "Route 66." The series ended in 1964, after four seasons, with a finale that saw Tod finally settle down.

Four decades later, Eric Kripke cited "Route 66" as a major inspiration for "Supernatural," his dark fantasy series that ran for 15 seasons on The CW. In his original pitch for the series, which he shared on X after "Supernatural" aired its 300th episode, Kripke described the show's premise as "'The X-Files' meets 'Route 66.'" "Two brothers cruising the dusty back roads in their trusty 64 Mustang battling the things that go bump in the night," Kripke wrote. The similarities between Tod and Buz and "Supernatural" leads Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) aren't hard to see, although the characters on "Route 66" didn't fight any demons or ghosts when they were driving around America.

"Route 66" and "The X-Files" weren't the only inspiration for "Supernatural." In 2014, Kripke admitted that his show was "a rip off of 'Night Stalker,'" referring to the one-season '70s ABC series "Kolchak: The Night Stalker," which followed a Chicago investigative reporter who found himself dealing with supernatural murders. "But I really fleshed it out and it had mythology," Kripke added.