History Film / MeetDave

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: The aliens learn of Earth's status as a CrapsackWorld by scanning the covers of assorted magazines, depicting war, pollution, Music/BritneySpears...

* CaptainErsatz: as befits the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' homage, we have Creator/GabrielleUnion as Uhura, and Expies of [=McCoy=] and [[Series/StarTrekVoyager Seven of Nine]] can be spotted.

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: the aliens learn of Earth's status as a CrapsackWorld by scanning the covers of assorted magazines, depicting war, pollution, Music/BritneySpears...

* AlienLunch: Gina hands Dave a bottle of ketchup while preparing a meal, and Dave proceeds to drink about half of it.

* AllThereInTheManual: The DVD and Blu-Ray releases of the film contain featurettes that explain a little more about the culture of planet Nil and the characters' backgrounds (No. 4 is apparently tall for a Nillian; No. 3 was No. 2's personal assistant at one point; and, in a rather dark turn, any Nillian who shows emotions is ''killed on the spot'', which makes you wonder [[FridgeLogic if this will happen to the crew when they return to the uninfluenced planet]], as well as revealing the 'numbers' of some of the characters whose are not blatantly stated in the film (for example, the Head Engineer is Number 10). When they return to Nil, it was implied that the Captain decided that all Nillians are allowed to show emotions.

-->'''Number Three:''' I say we save Earth. I no longer feel like Number Three. My life ''began'' on this planet. I am Dave Ming Cheng!
-->'''Chief Engineer:''' I have 443 new friends on Website/MySpace, and a J-date next week with Sheila Moscowicz. I am Dave Ming Cheng!
-->''(One by one, other crew members from all over the ship declare proudly, "I am Dave Ming Cheng!"...except for Number Four, the security officer.)''

* AllThereInTheManual: The DVD and Blu-Ray releases of the film contain featurettes that explain a little more about the culture of planet Nil and the characters' backgrounds (No. 4 is apparently tall for a Nillian; No. 3 was No. 2's personal assistant at one point; and, in a rather dark turn, any Nillian who shows emotions is ''killed on the spot'', which makes you wonder [[FridgeLogic if this will happen to the crew when they return to the uninfluenced planet]]),as well as revealing the 'numbers' of some of the characters whose are not blatantly stated in the film (for example, the Head Engineer is Number 10). When they return to Nil, it was implied that the Captain decided that all Nillians are allowed to show emotions.

* AllThereInTheManual: The DVD and Blu-Ray releases of the film contain featurettes that explain a little more about the culture of planet Nil and the characters' backgrounds (No. 4 is apparently tall for a Nillian; No. 3 was No. 2's personal assistant at one point; and, in a rather dark turn, any Nillian who shows emotions is ''killed on the spot'', which makes you wonder [[FridgeLogic if this will happen to the crew when they return to the uninfluenced planet]]),as well as revealing the 'numbers' of some of the characters whose are not blatantly stated in the film (for example, the Head Engineer is Number 10).

[[caption-width-right:350:[[Tagline There's a whole other world going on inside.]]]]

''Meet Dave'' is a movie released in 2008, about a human-sized spaceship crewed by tiny aliens from a planet called Nil. It stars Creator/EddieMurphy in two roles: the spaceship, which comes to be known as Dave Ming Cheng, and the ship's captain, known only as Captain.

* FriendOrIdolDecision: At the climax of the movie, Dave is left with just enough power to either get the orb out of the ocean, saving Earth, ''or'' lift off and return home to Nil. [[spoiler: Luckily, Josh's quick thinking enables the aliens to [[TakeAThirdOption do both]] ]].

--> '''Number Three:''' I say we save Earth. I no longer feel like Number Three. My life ''began'' on this planet. I am Dave Ming Cheng!
--> '''Chief Engineer:''' I have 443 new friends on Website/MySpace, and a J-date next week with Sheila Moscowicz. I am Dave Ming Cheng!
--> ''(One by one, other crew members from all over the ship declare proudly, "I am Dave Ming Cheng!"...except for Number Four, the security officer.)''
--> '''Number Four:''' I am Johnny Dazzles, and I am ''[[CampGay fabulous!]]'' *{{beat}}* What? Not ''everybody'' has to be Dave Ming Cheng.

* OhCrap: Dave has one of these moments, after he is reminded that the M in MRI (which he is about to undergo) stands for "magnetic". The Captain and Number Three share two Oh Crap moments after they are [[spoiler: ejected from the ship by Number Two. One happens when they find themselves standing next to a fire hydrant that is about to be "marked" by a passing dog; the other happens shortly thereafter, when they are nearly run over by a taxi as the Captain tries to get Number Three unstuck from a piece of used bubble gum.]]

* CaptainErsatz: as befits the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' homage, we have Gabrielle Union as Uhura, and Expies of [=McCoy=] and [[Series/StarTrekVoyager Seven of Nine]] can be spotted.

The aliens come to Earth because Nil is facing imminent doom for want of salt, and they aim to solve this problem with a golf ball-sized orb that will extract all the salt from Earth's ocean. Unfortunately, the orb is knocked off course during its entry into Earth's atmosphere, so the aliens must search New York City to find it. During the search, Dave meets a young boy, Josh, who recently had the orb in his possession, and Josh's attractive single mother, Gina. More than a few complications occur (along with a good deal of [[HilarityEnsues laughs]]) as the Captain gets to know Earth's people in general, and Gina in particular (with whom he becomes rather smitten).

* ContrivedCoincidence: Take your pick between the MacGuffin landing in the room of the boy whose mom accidentally hits Dave with a car ''when he arrives three months later'', or one of the officers assigned to investigate the crater from Dave's landfall being the AgentMulder.

* IsThisThingStillOn: When the ship is taken into custody by the police, Number Two begins his mutiny, but doesn't realize at first that the communication system is still open. Hence the two cops who were interrogating "Dave" hear him fiercely arguing with himself, until Number Two realises it and orders the speakers turned off.

--> '''Chief Engineer:''' I have 443 new friends on MySpace, and a J-date next week with Sheila Moscowicz. I am Dave Ming Cheng!

* WholeCostumeReference: Turns out Dave's suit was based on Ricardo Montalban in ''FantasyIsland''.

The film's credited writers are [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 Bill]] [[Podcast/RiffTrax Corbett]] and [[Series/{{Frasier}} Rob]] [[Series/HowIMetYourMother Greenberg]]. Corbett has gone on record as saying that the final film differs radically from the last draft they wrote.

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: the aliens learn of Earth's status as a CrapsackWorld by scanning the covers of assorted magazines, depicting war, pollution, BritneySpears...

''Meet Dave'' is a movie released in 2008, about a human-sized spaceship crewed by tiny aliens from a planet called Nil. It stars EddieMurphy in two roles: the spaceship, which comes to be known as Dave Ming Cheng, and the ship's captain, known only as Captain.

* ViewersAreMorons: Was originally titled ''"Starship Dave"'', but was [[ExecutiveMeddling changed]] because they didn't want people thinking it was a SciFi movie ([[SciFiGhetto even though it technically is]]). Specifically, they didn't want people to associate it with ''Film/TheAdventuresOfPlutoNash''.[[note]]If you've ever seen The Adventures of Pluto Nash, you'll agree this is a valid concern.[[/note]]

The film's credited writers are [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 Bill]] [[RiffTrax Corbett]] and [[{{Frasier}} Rob]] [[Series/HowIMetYourMother Greenberg]]. Corbett has gone on record as saying that the final film differs radically from the last draft they wrote.

* HeyItsThatGuy: [[TheHangover Stu Price]] is the villain.

* IsThisThingStillOn: when the ship is taken into custody by the police, Number Two begins his mutiny, but doesn't realize at firtst that the communication system is still open. Hence the two cops who were interrogating "Dave" hear him fiercely arguing with himself, until Number Two realises it and order to close the speakers.

* ViewersAreMorons: Was originally titled ''"Starship Dave"'', but was [[ExecutiveMeddling changed]] because they didn't want people thinking it was a SciFi movie ([[SciFiGhetto even though it technically is]]). Specifically, they didn't want people to associate it with ''Film/TheAdventuresOfPlutoNash''.

* HotMom: Elizabeth Banks!