Is there a backstory? Is Riker tall or the chairs overly short? Did they want to avoid chairs moving on screen, or avoid showing his back side? Where the chairs too heavy to move, or are bolted to the floor? Was this to convey he needed more breathable briefs and needed to separate the “boys”? That command was a heavy load? Did this convey a whimsey with his character? Or did he want to accentuate his crotch?
The actor has some serious back problems and that weird way of getting into a chair is one of the ways he avoids triggering a flare up
Also Frakes is just really tall so he can just do that
Slight correction, had back problems. He was in a car accident and had to sit like that until it healed. By the time it was healed everyone just expected him to sit like that.
Wil Wheaton confirmed the furniture-moving story: https://old.reddit.com/r/scifi/comments/1dx9y7/riker_sits_down_always_with_the_leg_over_the/c9v52pj/?context=2
What makes you say it was a car accident?
Apparently the uniform was extremely uncomfortable and tight in the crotch and this was his way of saying fuck you to the production folks that wouldn’t get them better fitting costumes
You’ve heard of the Picard maneuver, now get ready for:
The Riker Reach Around
Really loved the “Riker stand up” as well.
Heard they just played the sit down in reverse to save on actor costs.
