The Amada Bench

it's not completely ridiculous unless you turn it into a super cut, or pause it mid-mount, but I will admit, I laughed.

I think it's just because he's really tall and the chairs in star trek are really small, but you'd think you'd sit normally when talking to your boss, but nope, he mounts it like a horse.

I'm definitely going to need to try the Riker Chair Mount the next time I encounter an appropriate chair.

Having see this, and seeing how he does it over and over.. It really is just because the chairs are so short. Compared to him, they're tiny, its almost easier to do this than not. In some cases you don't even NOTICE he's doing it because its so short he barely has to lift his leg

I have a theory. I was in the Navy stationed aboard a destroyer. The chairs on the mess deck and many others throughout the ship were mounted on a between your legs I-beam attached to the stanchion supporting the table or desk. This kept the chairs from bouncing around in high seas and the deck clear for swabbing. of course, the only way to sit down was to use the method you see Riker using. It was a hard habit to break. Perhaps Riker was a tin can sailor before entering Star Fleet Academy.

I think a lot of this may have to do with the fact that the chairs he's sitting on are often just props. They're very short. Some of them may be screwed to the floor (like the two chairs in Picard's ready room). All these chairs are also next to tables which probably don't have good clearance for his knees. So Frakes can either stumble around for a noticeable amount of time trying to get himself into position, or he can put his leg over the chair and go straight into his dialog. He does the latter. It would be more interesting to see if Frakes does this on other shows like his pre-Trek soaps.

It may have more to do with production of the show. Does he really do this every time he sits down, or only when it keeps him in frame for the shot?