# Riker sits down like a crazy person **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 9, 2013, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riker-sits-down-like-a-crazy-person/657905 "2013-05-09T17:16:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riker-sits-down-like-a-crazy-person/657905/21 "2013-05-09T21:21:20Z")
> [@Foggy](#): > > I don’t know if it matters, but didn’t he have some back problems? Apparently so, and that accounts for this as well as the “Riker Lean” wherein Riker is always seen to be leaning on something. The video was posted at [iO9](http://io9.com/supercut-of-riker-sitting-down-like-a-total-weirdo-on-s-497447952) and one of the commenters there linked to [Reddit](http://www.reddit.com/r/scifi/comments/1dx9y7/riker_sits_down_always_with_the_leg_over_the/c9urrko) where Wil Wheaton verifies the injury story. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riker-sits-down-like-a-crazy-person/657905/22 "2013-05-09T21:47:18Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > I was going to say ‘mount a horse’ but that just didn’t seem right. Yeah, especially talking about Riker. Way too much room for misinterpretation there… ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riker-sits-down-like-a-crazy-person/657905/23 "2013-05-09T22:42:35Z")
> [@Shark\_Sandwich](#): > > I never noticed it either, and I think I’ve seen every TNG episode. I remember noticing it back when TNG was first run, but it’s great to see it as a supercut. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riker-sits-down-like-a-crazy-person/657905/24 "2013-05-10T00:19:58Z")
It’s like watching Jed Bartlet put on his jacket. You don’t notice it until somebody points it out but then you can’t not notice it. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riker-sits-down-like-a-crazy-person/657905/25 "2013-05-10T03:50:34Z")
I noticed the chair thing at the time and I vaguely recall at least one occasion where Wil Wheaton did the same, presumably Wesley emulating Riker. I hadn’t noticed the Riker Lean, but it reminds me of [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bSZXucTH4A). ---
**Author:** ![FlyingDragonFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c89c15/32.png) [@FlyingDragonFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingDragonFan)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riker-sits-down-like-a-crazy-person/657905/26 "2013-05-10T13:51:22Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > I think his manner of sitting is less crazy than the fact that all the chairs on the Enterprise have such short backs. I saw the video posted somewhere yesterday, and one of the comments was from someone who had read “somewhere” that the set designers made the chairs with low backs so they looked cool and futuristic, and Frakes sat like that once to point out to the designers that some of the cast were taller than others, and it just went on from there as a joke. No cite, unfortunately, but it’s such a weird maneuver I can see it all being a big in-joke for the cast. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riker-sits-down-like-a-crazy-person/657905/27 "2013-05-10T15:12:06Z")
> [@FlyingDragonFan](#): > > I saw the video posted somewhere yesterday, and one of the comments was from someone who had read “somewhere” that the set designers made the chairs with low backs so they looked cool and futuristic, and Frakes sat like that once to point out to the designers that some of the cast were taller than others, and it just went on from there as a joke. No cite, unfortunately, but it’s such a weird maneuver I can see it all being a big in-joke for the cast. That’s how it looks to me. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riker-sits-down-like-a-crazy-person/657905/28 "2013-05-10T17:08:43Z")
> [@Just\_Ed](#): > > one of the commenters there linked to [Reddit](http://www.reddit.com/r/scifi/comments/1dx9y7/riker_sits_down_always_with_the_leg_over_the/c9urrko) where Wil Wheaton verifies the injury story. I’d say that’s pretty conslusive. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riker-sits-down-like-a-crazy-person/657905/29 "2013-05-10T17:10:39Z")
> [@FlyingDragonFan](#): > > I saw the video posted somewhere yesterday, and one of the comments was from someone who had read “somewhere” that the set designers made the chairs with low backs so they looked cool and futuristic, and Frakes sat like that once to point out to the designers that some of the cast were taller than others, and it just went on from there as a joke. No cite, unfortunately, but it’s such a weird maneuver I can see it all being a big in-joke for the cast. I read that on iO9. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riker-sits-down-like-a-crazy-person/657905/30 "2013-05-10T18:40:21Z")
What gets me is how good he is at. Its almost as if he has been doing it that way his whole life. He musta practiced that for hours or days or maybe thats his real talent. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riker-sits-down-like-a-crazy-person/657905/31 "2013-05-10T18:50:57Z")
Well, he got the role by throwing his leg over and stepping in front of Jeffrey Combs. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riker-sits-down-like-a-crazy-person/657905/32 "2013-05-10T18:57:39Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Well, he got the role by throwing his leg over and stepping in front of Jeffrey Combs. Well, Combs appears to have a major (make-up) appliance fetish, so he got what he really wanted, anyway… ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riker-sits-down-like-a-crazy-person/657905/33 "2013-05-13T19:15:48Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Well, he got the role by throwing his leg over and stepping in front of Jeffrey Combs. Now that was funny! My guess is that this is Frakes’ way of showing that Riker is a bit of a cowboy at heart. Kirk liked to swagger like The Duke; Riker likes to mount a chair like The Duke mounts a horse. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riker-sits-down-like-a-crazy-person/657905/34 "2013-05-13T19:41:53Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > It’s like watching Jed Bartlet put on his jacket. You don’t notice it until somebody points it out but then you can’t not notice it. I first noticed Martin Sheen do this in **The Believers** (12 years before _WW_) and thought it was perhaps the coolest thing ever–one fluid, graceful, effortless movement executed while walking down a hallway. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riker-sits-down-like-a-crazy-person/657905/35 "2013-05-13T19:49:42Z")
Just caught a YouTube video (I’m on a smartphone and it hates making non-mobile YouTube links, but search for “West Wing Extras Season 05 - The Jacket Incident”) where Sheen says his left (upper?) arm was crushed by forceps during his birth and he has “no lateral movement” of it, so he worked that move out when he was a kid to put on a shirt, jacket, etc. Interesting! ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riker-sits-down-like-a-crazy-person/657905/36 "2013-05-13T20:22:46Z")
I have an odd urge to re-watch the _Gargoyles_ series to see if David Xanatos ever sits down Riker-style. ---
**Author:** ![Achren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@Achren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achren)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riker-sits-down-like-a-crazy-person/657905/37 "2013-05-13T20:40:20Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Just caught a YouTube video (I’m on a smartphone and it hates making non-mobile YouTube links, but search for “West Wing Extras Season 05 - The Jacket Incident”) where Sheen says his left (upper?) arm was crushed by forceps during his birth and he has “no lateral movement” of it, so he worked that move out when he was a kid to put on a shirt, jacket, etc. Interesting! I’ll help you out with the link: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/uMFuarTK9Mw/hqdefault.jpg "The West Wing Extras Season 05 - The Jacket Incident") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMFuarTK9Mw) ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riker-sits-down-like-a-crazy-person/657905/38 "2013-05-13T20:50:26Z")
> [@Achren](#): > > I’ll help you out with the link: > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMFuarTK9Mw](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMFuarTK9Mw) Thanks! It’s a short video, just over a minute, and at about 47 seconds in he gives the explanation. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riker-sits-down-like-a-crazy-person/657905/39 "2013-05-13T20:57:07Z")
> [@Foggy](#): > > I don’t know if it matters, but didn’t he have some back problems? > [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > No, because Worf always had his back… Considering Worf’s lack of aim and general habit of getting his ass kicked by significantly weaker opponents (70+ year old Admiral, anyone?), that may have been his problem. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riker-sits-down-like-a-crazy-person/657905/40 "2013-05-13T21:50:28Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > I first noticed Martin Sheen do this in **The Believers** (12 years before _WW_) and thought it was perhaps the coolest thing ever–one fluid, graceful, effortless movement executed while walking down a hallway. Here he does it in _[Badlands](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOhDvz7ETC8)_ in 1973. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riker-sits-down-like-a-crazy-person/657905.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riker-sits-down-like-a-crazy-person/657905.md?page=3)