‘Star Trek’ Fans Put Kirk’s Command Chair in Their Homes

THERE is nothing particularly unusual about the living room of the two-story town house that Scott Veazie shares with his wife in Washougal, Wash., except for one piece of furniture in a corner: a full-size replica of the captain’s chair from the bridge of the U.S.S. Enterprise, as seen in the original “Star Trek” television series.

[…]

“It’s not the most comfortable of chairs,” Mr. Veazie said. “The arms are too low and they’re too far apart. Now I know why William Shatner was always leaning forward in it.”

There is another possible explanation, suggested Eddie Paskey, who as Mr. Shatner’s stand-in on “Star Trek” spent much time in the chair during camera and lighting set-ups. “Early on, Bill sat down, leaned back, and it went over backwards,” he said. — Thomas Vinciguerra, New York Times

When I was first watching Star Trek reruns as a kid in the 70s, Eddie Paskey was a “Guy Who Always Gets Killed.”  (He played an extra that was killed off, but got cast again the next week as another extra, and wisely kept his mouth shut.) I was a little miffed later on, when I learned the word “redshirt.”

Since the NYT is apparently issuing takedown notices to bloggers who use NYT photos (“Pop quiz: You’re a troubled media dinosaur struggling to find your way on the Web. What steps can you take to actively discourage people from linking to you, thus reducing your pageviews and revenue?”– Cory Doctorow) I will instead post my own 3D depiction of this famous chair.