History Main / ImADoctorNotAPlaceholder

---> Kirk: "You're a healer, there's a patient. That's an order." (The patient in question was mostly made of rock, and what [=McCoy=] wasn't was a bricklayer.)
---> Scott: "''Now'', you're an engineer."
*** The novelization of "Mirror, Mirror" from ''The Star Trek Reader'' averts this with McCoy simply saying, "I'm not an engineer," and Scott quipping "You soon will be." (Though Scott is proud of McCoy's help later.)
** The EMH from ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'' ''almost'' gives the trope title with "I'm a doctor, not a doorstop."
*** Amusing anecdote: Robert Picardo got the part of the EMH by ad-libbing "I'm a doctor, not a night light!" during his audition.
**** Amusing fact: he didn't know that was [=McCoy=]'s catchphrase—he just thought it sounded funny.
*** If you shoot him in the game ''Elite Force'', he says "I'm a doctor, not a bullseye."
*** Lampshaded by B'Elanna ("I'm a Doctor-" "Not an engineer, right,") and flipped around by Tom. "I'm a pilot, Harry, not a Doctor!"
*** The justification variant is frequently abused by Tuvok, who seems to feel compelled to begin any and every sentence or explanation with "I am a Vulcan."

* ''StargateSG1'' provided a variation of this trope in "Deadman Switch" where [[spoiler:Aris Boch demands that Daniel Jackson treat his wound after capturing them]]: "I'm an archeologist" - "But you're also a doctor." - "... [[NotThatKindOfDoctor of Archeology]]."
* ''StargateAtlantis'' had Carson Beckett do this in a couple of episodes:

* {{Lost}} had a character exclaim "I'm an internist, not an obstetrician" (which means, "I specialize in innards, not reproductive organs.")

* ''ThirdRockFromTheSun'' had Officer Don say in one episode "I'm a cop, not a goat" when meeting Sally on a Hill at night.
* Moseby of ''[[TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody The Suite Life On Deck]]'' wanted to put Zack on permanent detention for detonating a stink bomb in the chemistry lab. Tutweiler's response:

* Joked about in ''CriminalMinds''.
-->Morgan: Can you do it?
-->Garcia: Remember on ''Star Trek'', when Dr. [=McCoy=] always said, "I'm a doctor, not a miracle worker?"
-->Morgan: So you're saying you can't?
-->Garcia: No, I'm saying that I'm not a doctor.
* Played with in an episode of ''{{Friends}}'' where Rachel tells how her former fiancé, an orthodontist, once went to a Halloween party disguised as a dentist.
* The ''{{Smallville}}'' episode ''Rush'' has Clark say, "I'm an alien, not a cartoon!" when Chloe asks him if he can fly.

* In the BigBangTheory episode "The Desperation Emanation"

* On Friends, Joey has this line while pretending to be a doctor and unable to figure out a person's age from their date of birth.
-->'''Joey:''' Dammit, I'm a doctor, not a mathematician.

The most famous example, and thus the TropeNamer, is StarTrek's Dr [=McCoy=] -- but the earliest example we have so far is from 1863, making it not only [[OlderThanTheyThink older than Star Trek]] but OlderThanRadio.[[hottip:*:It was in TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea.]] Note that [=DeForest=] Kelley, [[BeamMeUpScotty contrary to popular belief]], never prefaced his statement with "[[PrecisionFStrike Damn it]], Jim" or some variant thereof; he [[GoshDarnItToHeck never swore]] on the show, given that it aired in TheSixties. He ''did'' swear up a storm in most of the movies, however, so parodists naturally combined his potty mouth with his catch phrase, to great effect. (He never actually used his CatchPhrase in a movie until [[Film/StarTrek the reboot]]).[[hottip:*:Wherein he ''did'' swear, but he wasn't talking to Kirk, so the complete memetic phrase still has yet to be uttered.]]

* This even appears in TheMovie of ''LostInSpace'', when Dr. Smith says "I am a doctor, not a space explorer." It's probably a deliberate reference to ''StarTrek'' - the two parent series were DuelingShows, back in TheSixties.

* Naturally, as an AffectionateParody of ''StarTrek'', ''Film/GalaxyQuest'' includes an example of this, in one of the film's most famous lines: "We're actors, not astronauts!"

* TropeNamer is Dr. [=McCoy=] from ''StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''.

** The EMH from ''StarTrekFirstContact'' ''almost'' gives the trope title with "I'm a doctor, not a doorstop."

** Even Bashir gave it a shot in ''StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'''s anniversary episode "Trials and Tribble-ations".

** A 'morally repugnant' example in [[StarTrekDeepSpaceNine "Broken Link"]], when [[TokenEvilTeammate Garak]] tries to convince [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Worf]] to stand by and let him commit genocide. Worf responds with "I'm a warrior, not a murderer!"[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hZqOdsRoKU]]

** An episode of ''TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'' had [[ItMakesSenseInContext Will, Carlton and WilliamShatner get high off of a leaking laughing gas tank at the dentist's]] and start acting like ''StarTrek'' characters; after Shatner addresses Will as "Bones", he responds "Dammit Jim, I'm a black boy from Philly, not a doctor!"

* An episode of ''{{Roundhouse}}'' referenced this by having ''StarTrek''-esque scenes playing during a channel surfing montage. [[RuleOfThree On the third appearance...]]

* In ''WapsiSquare'', Monica is an [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/dammit-jin/ Anthropologist, not a Psychiatrist.]] She even throws in a [[StarTrek "Dammit Jin"]] for good measure.

* In the RiffTrax of the 2009 ''StarTrek'' film, they come down on the usage of this for not being deep and raspy enough, asking to hear "those throat nodes and smoker's hack."

* Dr. Delbert Doppler from ''Disney/TreasurePlanet'' says this as a ShoutOut to ''StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''.

** In "The Eye" he said: "I'm a bloody medical doctory not a magician."

* Naturally, as an AffectionateParody of ''StarTrek'', ''GalaxyQuest'' includes an example of this, in one of the film's most famous lines: "We're actors, not astronauts!"

[[/folder]]

* From ''WesternAnimation/MonstersVsAliens'' but reversed: "I'm not a quack; I'm a mad scientist!" (Dr. Cockroach)

* In ''LeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'', Dorian Grey exclaims at one point "I'm an immortal, not a gazelle!"

* From ''Monsters Vs Aliens'' but reversed: "I'm not a quack; I'm a mad scientist!" (Dr. Cockroach)

* TheManWhoWouldBeKing:

* AHardDaysNight: Ringo is a drummer, not a wet-nurse.

* From ''Monsters Vs Aliens'' but reversed: "I'm not a quack, I'm a mad scientist!" (Dr. Cockroach)

* In Digger, Digger says that [[http://www.diggercomic.com/?p=31 she's a Wombat, not a lungfish.]]

* Dr. Delbert Doppler from ''TreasurePlanet'' says this as a ShoutOut to ''StarTrek''.

* A particularly brilliant example in ''{{WesternAnimation/Animaniacs}}'' when the Warner Siblings are backed into a corner in Hades:

-->'''Wakko:''' Nothing Yakko.

-->'''Dot:''' Nothing Yakko.

* ''RoughnecksStarshipTroopersChronicles'', the animated series, has a conversation while defusing a bomb that goes something like this:

* ''[[BeavisAndButthead Beavis and Butt-head]]'', similar to ''SaturdayNightLive'''s example:

* In ''The Kennel Murder Case'', the doctor is called to the scene of the crime, questioned by bystanders, and replies "I'm a doctor, not a magician". A few minutes later, he pronounces a man to have committed suicide and is reminded he's supposed to look at the body, to which he replies "I'm a doctor, not a detective". The film (one of the Philo Vance detective movies) is from 1933, making this OlderThanTelevision, and probably even older, considering that it's based on a book and the doctor is a recurring character.

--> '''Butt-head''': Those guys better look out for the Klingons near [[UranusIsShowing Uranus]].

* ''BeavisAndButthead'', similar to ''SaturdayNightLive'''s example:

**

** --> '''Butt-head''': Hey Beavis.

* ''Ben10AlienForce'' episode "Paradox" with--who else--Paradox. After he managed to restore Kevin's age after he'd be

The most famous example, and thus the TropeNamer, is StarTrek's Dr [=McCoy=] -- but the earliest example we have so far is from 1933, making it not only [[OlderThanTheyThink older than Star Trek]] but OlderThanTelevision.[[hottip:*:Although it's only older than scheduled, broadcast TV by some three years.]] Note that [=DeForest=] Kelley, [[BeamMeUpScotty contrary to popular belief]], never prefaced his statement with "[[PrecisionFStrike Damn it]], Jim" or some variant thereof; he [[GoshDarnItToHeck never swore]] on the show, given that it aired in TheSixties. He ''did'' swear up a storm in most of the movies, however, so parodists naturally combined his potty mouth with his catch phrase, to great effect. (He never actually used his CatchPhrase in a movie until [[Film/StarTrek the reboot]]).[[hottip:*:Wherein he ''did'' swear, but he wasn't talking to Kirk, so the complete memetic phrase still has yet to be uttered.]]

-->'''Doppler:''' [[ShoutOut Dangit, Jim]], I'm an astronomer, not a doctor! I mean, I ''am'' a doctor, but not ''that'' [[NotThatKindOfDoctor kind of doctor]], I have a doctorate, it's not the same thing, you can't ''help'' people with a doctorate. You just sit there and you're useless!

[[AC: ComicBooks]]

[[AC: {{Film}}]]

[[AC: {{Literature}}]]

[[AC: LiveActionTV]]

[[AC: VideoGames]]

[[AC: WebComics]]

[[AC: WebOriginal]]

[[AC: WesternAnimation]]

* ''Ben10AlienForce'' episode "Paradox" with--who else--Paradox. After he managed to restore Kevin's age after he'd be

[[redirect:{{ptitletzsppi6i}}]]