Janeway should have had the center seatwell.

[TheGodBen]

And I'm fairly certain that the producers used to take away Tuvok's chair most of the time, they only put it there during the shots where we saw behind his desk. Uhura was only allowed to sit down because that allowed everyone to see up her mini-skirt. Mayweather was allowed a chair on the condition that he didn't try to speak much.

 

[nx1701g]

But we all know the real reason why Beltran had a seat; he wasn't African American.

LaForge didn't get a seat either

That was because he kept falling asleep in the one they gave him in the first season.

Levar Burton admitted at a convention that the helm and ops chairs in Season One were so comfortable on long shooting days it wasn't uncommon for either he or Brent Spiner to fall asleep during filming or between takes in the forward seats.

 

[Polgara]

I always liked the set up for the command deck on Voyager and never thought it took away from Janeway's position.

 

[TexasNightt]

I always thought they put LaForge in the engine room so he could shovel anti-matter into the engine.

I always wanted A con or and ops chair.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

I think I read somewhere that Michael Dorn was a bit annoyed on TNG because he was constantly forced to stand during the bridge scenes (another case of a black man not having a seat), and he found it ironic that he finally got a chair in Generations and then the ship was destroyed. If that's true then they might not have wanted Chakotay standing all the time in case Beltran got annoyed.

Of course, I think it makes sense that the tactical officer doesn't get to sit - they're supposed to always be on their toes about potential threats, after all. *ba-dum phish!*

 

[Bad Atom]

This always bothered me too, for a number of reasons.

One, the side-by-side chairs made the captain's position off-center and seemingly less important. Not a great idea, especially with the producers walking on eggshells regarding their (gasp!) female captain. I'm surprised they didn't overcompensate and give her a throne.

Two, the set was designed with the eventual crew situation in mind, which is awfully convenient. In a way, it makes sense with Janeway as Starfleet captain and Chakotay as the leader of the Maquis. But the set design should not reflect that. I was watching "Caretaker" and it's like, "hmm, empty seat, wonder who's gonna fill that?"

Three, what's wrong with having Chakotay stand? Would have made for more interesting staging than having him sitting in that freaking chair for seven years pushing buttons on that little console. That should be a part of the Voyager drinking game, if it isn't already.

 

[Nick Ryder]

Sure he did. First season he was at the helm and then second he had engineering... which had a lot of stools and chairs around, he even had an office to himself! Plus on the bridge there were chairs tucked under the consoles behind Worf.

Now why in nearly seven years didn't Worf pull one of those motherfuckin' chairs out at least ONCE and go "I am SITTING and if you question it, I will kill you."

 

[Red Ranger]

I never really liked the Voyager bridge for a couple of reasons. The asymmetry of having the first officer's seat to one side of the captain's, with no seat to the other side, always seemed goofy. And I never liked the helm being the only seat in front of them. I would've had Paris and Kim sit side by side, in the front, with ops next to the conn, like in TNG. And I would've given both Tuvok and Chakotay consoles on either side of Janeway, a bit like the Enterprise-E, where both Riker and Troi had consoles they worked on. I disliked the idea of two senior officers always standing, anyway. That also bugged me about Tasha, then Worf, at tactical in TNG, too. -- RR

 

[Odon]

I think the design might have been done to establish what Janeway & Chakotay represented on the whole. Janeway=Mother, Chakotay=Father. The two in co-leadership, yet also representing both crews as equal. If Beltran had been given a more solid role, this may have been more evident.

Starfleet command structure does not allow for co-leadership on its starships for a damn good reason. See Crimson Tide as a good movie example. The Maquis crew were not equal to the starfleet crew. They were terrorists who were given a place to stay for a while.

Designed that way by the creators of the series, it what is meant here.

 

[Tallis Rhul]

I'm enjoying this debate.

Firstly, I think I'm interpreting things correctly in assuiming that TheGodBen is joking. Worf after all gets a seat 24/7 on the Defiant, and on DS9 in Ops. He gets to sit looking grumpy instead of standing looking grumpy, which gives his tired legs a well-earned rest. Big strapping Klingons need comfy chairs to sit in after all.

Miles O'Brien never got a seat on the Defiant either. Neelix was seatless on Voyager. Seven didn't have a permanent seat either. I think it's a ridiculous thing for an actor to get pissed off about, why should it matter if they're standing or seated when they deliver their lines? XD

Back on topic, I agree with what people are saying about there being 2 command chairs because of Voyager being a small ship. The designers wanted a symmetrical look, and so the Captain's chair is slightly off centre. She always looks central the way it's shot though, if not by camera angle then by personality/gravitas, which Janeway had in abundance.

It's not just Voyager that this discussion could apply to... check out an Akira-Class bridge...

I have no idea whether or not we're considering that as canon, but it's taken from the Star Trek fact files, showing that this isn't necessarily down to sexism.

 

[Bluesteel]

O'Brien had a seat on the Defaint. He was sitting to the Captains left.

I think the design might have been done to establish what Janeway & Chakotay represented on the whole. Janeway=Mother, Chakotay=Father. The two in co-leadership, yet also representing both crews as equal. If Beltran had been given a more solid role, this may have been more evident.

Starfleet command structure does not allow for co-leadership on its starships for a damn good reason. See Crimson Tide as a good movie example. The Maquis crew were not equal to the starfleet crew. They were terrorists who were given a place to stay for a while.

If Starfleet was following Navy rules the First Officer wouldn't even be allowed in the bridge when the Captain was there. Riker,Kira,Spock and Chakotay would be walking around the ship making sure people were doing their jobs. Not good for Drama.

Now let me ask you a question. What in Gods name made you think this was an issue? Does it even matter?

 

[TheGodBen]

Miles O'Brien never got a seat on the Defiant either.

Aha! Racism against the Irish too!

O'Brien had a seat on the Defaint. He was sitting to the Captains left.

Oh bugger, I'm not very good at this activism malarkey. I failed to stop the Iraq war and now this.


On topic, I'm not sure if the Akira class bridge is canon but the Nova class bridge seen in Equinox is. It has two command seats just like Voyager, and some really cheap office chairs for everyone else.

 

[Tallis Rhul]

Job-ism against scientists and scouts? :O

 

[Nick Ryder]

That Akira bridge is messed up... there's no Ops station. And that's another ting about Voyager's bridge... Harry AND Tuvok didn't have chairs didn't they?

And what you talkin' about Miles not having a seat on the Defiant he sure as hell did, when he wasn't in engineering, he had a seat. There were chairs all over the damn place on the D, for a small ship it HAD CHAIRS FOR ALL!

 

[TheGodBen]

I'm fairly sure that Harry and Tuvok did have seats, but they were elevated so it looked like they were standing. A few times the camera looked behind the console and you could see a seat there.

 

[Tallis Rhul]

That Akira bridge is messed up... there's no Ops station.

There is, it's just combined with the Helm, like on the Defiant.

 

[ultimateguinan]

If they were really sexist they'd have had her sitting on Chakotay's knee.

 

[Cyke101]

If they were really sexist they'd have had her sitting on Chakotay's knee.

And for this post, you win a month's supply of rations and coffee. Well done

 

[Tallis Rhul]

If they were really sexist they'd have had her sitting on Chakotay's knee.

That's genius. Utter genius.

I'm partly posting this because I really want to see TheGodBen turn it into another activist ideal but thinking about it... doesn't a Romulan Warbird have 2 seats on the bridge? (or some at least) - We saw Tebok and Thei sitting next to each other in the TNG episode The Neutral Zone.

 

[TheGodBen]

I've given up on activism and I've now resigned myself to grumbling in the corner about how we wouldn't stand for that sort of thing in my day.

*grumble* We would stand for Romulans having two command chairs in my day. *grumble*