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So, for #StarTrekDay 
https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt=""> and #StarTrekUnitedGives https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt="">, here& #39;s the story of my first encounter with the Captain& #39;s chair of the U.S.S. Enterprise...
In the summer between my junior and senior years of college, I won a writing for TV competition. (It was only open to college kids, so it& #39;s not like I beat Robert Towne or something.) The grand prize was eight weeks in LA, interning on the Paramount lot.
The script I wrote to enter said competition was a Next Generation spec, so the lion& #39;s share of my time was spent interning on Star Trek. At the time, they were in pre-production on both TNG season 6 and Deep Space Nine season 1.
When I got there, I asked the person coordinating my internship if it would be possible to get a tour of the TNG sets and—fingers crossed—a picture of myself in the Captain& #39;s chair. "We& #39;ll see what we can do."
The six weeks I spent in Star Trek were wonderful, in no small part due to the people. Michael Piller, Rene Echevarria, and Jeri Taylor were lovely to this kid from St. John& #39;s University. They gave time they didn& #39;t have and wisdom they didn& #39;t need to share.
Michael, specifically, took a shine to me—eventually introducing me to @IraStevenBehr, who was busy building DS9. Ira invited me to sit in on pitches and story breaks, look at audition tapes, and read pretty much every document they had.
(Ira had a big map of the Bronx up on his wall. When I pointed out where I grew up, near Co-Op City, he smiled and said, "I knew I liked you.")
It was as close to the dream I& #39;d get for 20 years, but it was glorious. Just before I was set to head back to NY for my senior year, I asked that coordinator about that tour. "Oh, shit. Right. You free now?"
I was shunted into a VIP tour that was already going, with a standard Paramount page tour guide. And, yeah, it was pretty sweet walking through Sick Bay and Engineering and down the one stretch of curved hallway...until, finally, the Bridge.
I asked the tour guide if I could snag a picture of myself, sitting in the Captain& #39;s chair. He very politely, but very firmly, said no fucking way: "Mr. Stewart is a Shakespearean actor and, for him, that seat is as sacred as King Lear& #39;s throne."
I have no idea if that was @SirPatStew& #39;s actual position on command furniture or just a thing they said on tours to keep the jamokes from fucking up the set. Didn& #39;t matter. No picture for me.
Dejected, I shuffled after the tour. But, whatever, that picture would& #39;ve just been icing on the cake of an already phenomenal experience. Shit happens. C& #39;est la vie.
As we& #39;re leaving the soundstage, I spy a piece of a set that& #39;s covered in a plastic tarp. The word "Relics" was stenciled on the back of the set. I looked around, no one there. I lifted the tarp and there it was...
The Bridge of the Starship Enterprise. No bloody A, B, C, or D. The OG Bridge. Kirk& #39;s Bridge...well, a third of it, anyway. They built just enough for one or two camera angles.
But the Chair was there. Kirk& #39;s chair.
I farted in Kirk& #39;s chair.
PS: Flash forward 20 years. At the end of the skype meeting with @IraStevenBehr, @zakpenn, and @writergeekrhw about joining the writing staff of Alphas, Ira looked at me for a sec and said, "Hey, aren& #39;t you that kid from the Bronx?"
PPS: My first day on the job of #StarTrekPicard https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt="">, I went to @TerryMatalas& #39; office to ask him something and, in the corner, is the TNG Captain& #39;s chair. I was like, "Oh, cool replica." He said, "No, that& #39;s the real thing. Wanna sit in it?"
I couldn& #39;t do it. But I did say, "Remind me to tell you a story about me and that chair."
