I've seen a couple of different theories on some Star Trek forums that the reason why Troi gets to sit on the bridge right next to the captain is that her role as counselor actually includes being a very, very, very, very light-handed political officer duties (this is after all early TNG-era Starfleet where combat is a very minor part of a captain's duties)
Also during this video Chuck gave me the impression that he doesn't like Battlefield Earth, I guess I finally have something for the "respectfully disagree with Chuck" thread /s
