Star Trek: Lower Decks’ Legal Battle Over Captain Kirk’s ‘Go Climb A Rock’ Shirt

The hardest joke for Star Trek: Lower Decks to legally clear was, surprisingly, a gag about an iconic shirt worn by Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner). Created by Mike McMahan, Star Trek: Lower Decks is rated 93% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and ran for five seasons on Paramount+ from 2020 to 2024.

A year and a half after Star Trek: Lower Decks ended, a new hardcover, coffee-table book celebrates Star Trek’s groundbreaking half-hour animated comedy. Written by Megan Treviño and published by Penguin Random House, The Art of Star Trek: Lower Decks is 344 pages of never-before-seen designs, sketches, and behind-the-scenes tales from the show’s creators.

On his Bluesky, Star Trek: Lower Decks co-producer Brad Winters touted his copy of The Art of Star Trek: Lower Decks and confirmed his own quote accompanying a photo of Ensign Bradward Boimler (Jack Quaid) wearing a white sweater that says, “Go climb a rock.” The caption reads, “Nothing was a bigger legal hurdle in all of Lower Decks than getting this shirt approved.”

Boimler’s shirt is a reference to the similar attire worn by Captain Kirk in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. In the film directed by William Shatner, Captain Kirk was fresh from a camping trip in Yosemite National Park when he was called back to command the USS Enterprise-A. Kirk whimsically wore a “Go climb a rock” shirt in honor of his failed attempt to scale El Capitan.

Ensign Brad Boimler wore his “Go climb a rock” shirt in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 2, episode 9, “wej Duj.” Desperate to gain one-on-one time with a senior officer aboard the USS Cerritos, Boimler donned the same top Kirk wore, and a malfunctioning pair of jet boots, to join Ensign D’Vana Tendi (Noël Wells) and Dr. T’Ana (Gillian Vigman) as they climbed El Capitan on the holodeck.

Replying to Brad Winters, Bluesky user @neko_designer commented that “Go climb a rock” is the motto and registered trademark of the Yosemite Mountaineering School and Guide Service. This may have led to the copyright issues Star Trek: Lower Decks faced, although the show got the joke cleared, just as William Shatner did in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.

Considering the countless jokes, callbacks, and Easter eggs from the breadth of Star Trek canon made by Star Trek: Lower Decks, it’s surprising that “Go climb a rock” caused the most legal difficulty. However, it was worth it because Boimler wearing a shirt identical to Captain Kirk was a loving and perfect nod to William Shatner’s maligned Star Trek movie.

Release Date

2020 – 2024-00-00

Writers

Gene Roddenberry