The one aspect to this that can work is when the cabin crew arrive before the flight crew have got themselves sorted out. The cabin crew put their bags above row 1, this stops row 2 and 3 taking up the space until row 1 arrives. The cabin crew then move their bags to behind the captain's seat, bingo! everyone is happy. If the bags were down the back it becomes more tricky to move the bags into the flight deck.

Having said that, it is annoying, as someone who is lucky to get row 1. However my carry-on is flexible and has no wheels, so it can cram into and around the wheelies. It's also quite heavy (no checked luggage), so any cabin crew member who wants to go through this shoes on / shoes off pantomine when the seatbelt sign remains on is thereby somewhat stuck....