15 Famous Chairs + What Ellen and the Judges Would Say About Them

1997 Mike Myers and Robert Wagner star in the movie "Austin Powers"

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Dr. Evil’s Chair From 'Austin Powers'

Aesthetically pleasing, ergonomically appropriate if you were recovering from being cryogenically frozen for thirty years, with clean, geometric lines that feel true to its owner’s villainous aesthetic: this design is a real success, particularly in comparison to sharks with laser beams on their heads.

LOS ANGELES - MARCH 29: William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk in the STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES episode, "Assignment: Earth." Season 2, episode 26. Original air date was March 29, 1968. Image is a screen grab. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)

Photo: CBS Photo Archive

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Captain Kirk’s 'Star Trek' Command Chair

Kirk’s chair from the ‘60s Star Trek set at Paramount Studios sold for a cool $304,000 in 2002, and Trekkies both buy and build their own replicas of it all over the world. With blocky, confident, sci-fi chic —and the reported ability to send a shiver of William Shatner’s campy cool down your spine when you sit in it — this chair is man cave-ready.

Publicity still from 'Pee Wee's Playhouse,' CBS TV's comedy starring Paul Reubens and S Epatha Merkerson, 1986. (Photo by John D. Kisch/Separate Cinema Archive/Getty Images)

Photo: John D. Kisch/Separate Cinema Archive

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Chairy From 'Pee Wee’s Playhouse'

As Pee Wee Herman’s anthropomorphic furniture/roommate, Chairy certainly had personality— a simple, sidekick-ish personality, sure, but when your seating can move and sing, predictability is a good thing. No one wants volatile upholstery.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II sits on the throne in the Chamber of the House of Lords and reads the Queen's Speech during the State Opening of Parliament in the Palace of Westminster in London on May, 9, 2012. Britain's Queen Elizabeth II unveiled the coalition government's legislative programme in a speech delivered to Members of Parliament and Peers in the House of Lords. AFP PHOTO / POOL / OLI SCARFF (Photo credit should read OLI SCARFF/AFP/GettyImages)

Photo: AFP

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The Queen of England’s Throne

QE2’s Throne in the House of Lords does not look comfortable, and as the judges are fond of saying, a piece’s form can’t outweigh its function. It does seem like the only seat in which it would be plausible to wear that cloak and crown during the State Opening of Parliament; since it’s used on an extremely limited basis a handful of times each year, its bling might excuse its probable effect on Her Majesty’s lower back.

THE VOICE -- "Knockout Rounds" -- Pictured: Blake Shelton -- (Photo by: Trae Patton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank)

Photo: NBC

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'The Voice' Judges’ Chairs

Given Ellen’s love for The Voice and its judges, her take on their ultra-functional chairs goes without saying. While their seats’ utility in non-national-singing-competition settings is...less certain, being able to smack a big red button, spin around, and say “I WANT YOU” every now and then does sound kind of fun, even if you’re referring to a bowl of microwave popcorn.

Van Gogh's Chair, 1888. Found in the collection of the National Gallery, London. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Photo: Heritage Images

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Vincent van Gogh’s Chair (1888)

This is a good example of why post-Impressionists make problematic furniture makers. From across the room, this rustic chair really says “taking it easy in a 19th-century Dutch cottage.” When you get up close, though, let’s be honest: it starts to look sloppy.

XXXXXXXX at the launch of the Game Of Thrones Exhibition at Museum of Contemporary Art on June 30, 2014 in Sydney, Australia.

Photo: Lisa Maree Williams

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The Iron Throne From 'Game of Thrones'

Speaking of uncomfortable royalty, the Iron Throne is built of a thousand swords surrendered by enemies of the first King of the Seven Kingdoms, and took 59 days to build. On how many of those days did Aegon the Conqueror ask himself, “Is my avant-garde use of materials going to prove to be a design flaw that would be dangerous for a user, not unlike a nursery changing table without a railing?” None, which is why everyone looks miserable when they become Lord of the Seven Kingdoms.

WASHINGTON DC, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, UNITED STATES - 2013/06/03: Lincoln Memorial. (Photo by John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Photo: John Greim

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The Lincoln Memorial

How better to showcase a material’s special aspects than to match it — exactly — to its user? Both Abe and his classical perch are made of Georgia white marble, and it’s hard to imagine him sitting anywhere else. Well done, Daniel Chester French.

FRASIER -- "The Fight Before Christmas" Episode 711 -- Pictured: (l-r) David Hyde Pierce as Niles Crane -- (Photo by: Gale M. Adler/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank)

Photo: NBC

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Martin Crane’s Recliner From 'Frasier'

Forget about the salvage yard; Frasier’s dad’s duct-taped old chair would have a hard time finding a friend on the sidewalk with a FREE TO A GOOD HOME sign. That said, it’s the best-loved chair in this roundup — by its owner, anyway.

Al Pacino sits in a chair in a scene from the film 'The Godfather: Part II', 1974. (Photo by Paramount/Getty Images)

Photo: Archive Photos

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Michael Corleone’s 'The Godfather: Part II' Chair

This chair does what it needs to do, but its gravitas is all Al Pacino’s; he’s sitting on a comparatively plain piece of lounge furniture with an expression that says it’s built of a thousand swords surrendered by enemies, à la the Iron Throne. The clash feels like a missed opportunity; a risk would have been welcome here.

LOS ANGELES - JULY 9: Gilligan's Island cast member, Bob Denver as Gilligan relaxing in a bamboo and rope chair, on set of episode "Voodoo Something to Me." Image dated July 9, 1964. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)

Photo: CBS Photo Archive

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Bamboo-and-Rope Recliner From 'Gilligan’s Island'

Now, this is making do with limited materials at its most impressive. Never mind disappearing after a three-hour tour; if you can make an indoor/outdoor recliner with flotsam on an uncharted desert isle, you’re doing something very, very right.

Painting titled 'Arrangement in Grey and Black No.1' , famously known as Whistler's Mother. Painted by James McNeill Whistler. Dated 1871. (Photo by Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

Photo: Universal History Archive

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Whistler’s Mother’s Chair (1871)

The Victorian case goods popular in James McNeill Whistler’s time tended to have rather severe lines, and we can all agree that Ma Whistler looks like a “less is more” type — but the thought of her modeling in that now-iconic position for hours on end is a painful one. Here’s hoping there’s an old-timey lumbar pillow hidden between her and the hardwood of "Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1."

Photo: Getty Images

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Morpheus’s Red Leather Wingback From 'The Matrix'

The color story here — Morpheus asks Neo to choose between a blue pill that will send him back to his non-life and a red pill that will blow his mind while sitting in a huge red chair — isn’t a subtle one, but it’s well executed. Speaking of tumbling down the rabbit hole...

Alice, having sampled the bottle labelled ''Drink me'' and shrunk in consequence, has to stand on tip-toe to talk to the caterpillar sitting on a toadstool, smoking a Hookah. Illustration by John Tenniel for ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'', London, 1865. Photo by: (Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty images)

Photo: Universal History Archive

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The Caterpillar’s Toadstool From 'Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland'

...Lewis Carroll’s toadstool could be the most ingenious seat ever made. Unlike adjustable chairs that conform to their users, it actually adjusts its users (if you want to be bigger, you eat one side of the mushroom; if you want to be smaller, you eat the other side). The liability insurance needed to mass-produce and market a toadstool chair would be cost-prohibitive, to be sure, but as an art piece, it’s awfully cool.

American actress and commedienne Lily Tomlin sits in an oversize chair as the character Edith Ann in her first television special 'Lily,' filmed October 22, 1973. The show, which aired November 2, 1973, featured Tomlin in a variety of roles including the little girl Edith Ann. (Photo by CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)

Photo: CBS Photo Archive

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Edith Ann’s Rocking Chair From 'Laugh In'

When Lily Tomlin first played five-year-old Edith Ann on Laugh-In, the show’s producers made her perform in a refrigerator box. Viewers loved her, the show finally gave in to her giant prop request, and her massive rocking chair became a comedy icon. Nothing telegraphs confidence like sticking to your guns and committing to a really big piece.

15 Famous Chairs + What Ellen and the Judges Would Say About Them

Dr. Evil’s Chair From 'Austin Powers'

Captain Kirk’s 'Star Trek' Command Chair

Chairy From 'Pee Wee’s Playhouse'

The Queen of England’s Throne

'The Voice' Judges’ Chairs

Vincent van Gogh’s Chair (1888)

The Iron Throne From 'Game of Thrones'

The Lincoln Memorial

Martin Crane’s Recliner From 'Frasier'

Michael Corleone’s 'The Godfather: Part II' Chair

Bamboo-and-Rope Recliner From 'Gilligan’s Island'

Whistler’s Mother’s Chair (1871)

Morpheus’s Red Leather Wingback From 'The Matrix'

The Caterpillar’s Toadstool From 'Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland'

Edith Ann’s Rocking Chair From 'Laugh In'

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