# A question about the political comedy Dave **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 6, 2018, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-political-comedy-dave/813695 "2018-05-06T14:50:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![janis\_and\_c0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janis_and_c0/32/21_2.png) [@janis\_and\_c0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janis_and_c0)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2018, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-political-comedy-dave/813695/1 "2018-05-06T14:50:21Z")
A few weeks ago I grabbed _Dave_ out of the bargain bin at Walmart (It was a double feature with _American President_, which is one of my favorite movies.) I had never seen it before, and we watched it last night… I must say, I was quite charmed. I thought it was a great little movie. I have one question. What do you think happens to Alan Reed? (Kevin Dunn’s character) Ostensibly, he should have gone down with Bob Alexander. Did the new president keep him on staff, having figured out that he was instrumental in clearing his name, (or was the VP fooled along with everyone else?) Was he part of the eight other members of the Mitchell Administration who got indicted? Had Dave left instructions to have him pardoned? Or simply the evidence didn’t implicate him and he was quietly pushed out when the new administration takes over? Forgive me, I know this movie is pretty old, but it’s new to me, and this made me very curious! Share your other thoughts about \*Dave \*too, if you want! ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2018, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-political-comedy-dave/813695/2 "2018-05-06T16:52:14Z")
I haven’t watched that movie in a long time, but one of the themes of the film is that nice guys win, and Alan’s a nice guy. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2018, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-political-comedy-dave/813695/3 "2018-05-07T01:06:27Z")
May I just say that my favorite part of that film is when Dave and the First Lady are caught by a police officer, and they pretend to be performers imitating the President and First Lady? He says to Dave something along the lines of, “You’re great, but _she_ needs a lot of work.” ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2018, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-political-comedy-dave/813695/4 "2018-05-07T01:09:51Z")
Hail to the Chief he’s the one we all say hail to We all say hail 'cause he keeps himself so clean (I assume that helps somehow?) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2018, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-political-comedy-dave/813695/5 "2018-05-07T04:13:47Z")
I love that movie! Lots of great bits, but my favorites are when the First Lady catches out Dave by reminding him of something nice he did when he was in the state senate… and he agrees… and she tells him he was never in the state senate. Or when Dave is at the robotics lab and talks about the fish he caught that was THIS BIG! Or when the evil chief of staff (one of Frank Langella’s finest roles) says, “I can have people killed. I looked it up.” Or when he challenges Dave to find an extra couple million in the budget… and Dave does! To answer the OP, we don’t know what happened to Alan. I suspect Dave, in his private talk with the VP, put in a good word for Alan as someone useful and honest to keep around, and the VP, once President, did so - but that’s just speculation. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2018, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-political-comedy-dave/813695/6 "2018-05-07T09:14:33Z")
Alan Reed got a new job as director of communications with the National Science Foundation. While conducting a press briefing/photo op of a temporal research project, he accidentally stumbled into the apparatus, which activated, and sent him hurtling back through time to prehistoric Foggy Bottom. To his amazement, he found a thriving community of cave people living in a village which they called “Bedrock.” With no way to return to modern times, he decided to make the best of the situation, changed his name to Fred Flintstone, got a job working in a quarry, and married a nice girl named Wilma. Basically, he assimilated, and lived a satisfying life with his new family. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2018, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-political-comedy-dave/813695/7 "2018-05-07T11:30:16Z")
Clicking channels on a lazy Sunday afternoon…oh look, it’s _Dave_ again. Guess I’ll watch it for the tenth time. Love that movie. Charles Grodin was hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2018, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-political-comedy-dave/813695/8 "2018-05-07T12:40:58Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Or when the evil chief of staff (one of Frank Langella’s finest roles) says, “I can have people killed. I looked it up.” I love when Langella hints at killing Dave, and is told, “You can’t kill the _president_!” To which Langella replies (something like), “He’s not the president. He’s just an ordinary person. I can kill an ordinary person.” ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2018, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-political-comedy-dave/813695/9 "2018-05-07T12:50:43Z")
Kaylasdad99 — ha! ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2018, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-political-comedy-dave/813695/10 "2018-05-07T13:45:39Z")
So many wonderful scenes in that movie: - Dave throwing out the first pitch at the baseball game - The aforementioned visit to the factory - Touring the center for underprivileged kids, and his moment with the young boy - Taking control of the staff budget meeting after that, and finding $200 million(?) to keep the funding for those centers - Bringing in his accountant to go over the national budget - Sneaking out of the White House with the First Lady, and their interaction with the cop - His plan to get out of the whole mess and take down Bob Alexander (in front of Congress, and on live television, no less!) A vastly underrated movie, and a joy to watch. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2018, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-political-comedy-dave/813695/11 "2018-05-07T14:46:10Z")
Yes, indeed. Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver and Frank Langella are all excellent in their roles. Another favorite moment: the White House tour guide blandly points out the chief of staff to tourists as he, furious, goes storming by. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2018, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-political-comedy-dave/813695/12 "2018-05-07T15:09:22Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Yes, indeed. Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver and Frank Langella are all excellent in their roles. > > Another favorite moment: the White House tour guide blandly points out the chief of staff to tourists as he, furious, goes storming by. …and we’re walking ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2018, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-political-comedy-dave/813695/13 "2018-05-07T15:17:44Z")
Now I want to see _Dave_ again, but is it on Netflix? Of course it fucking isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2018, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-political-comedy-dave/813695/14 "2018-05-07T15:37:48Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Yes, indeed. Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver and Frank Langella are all excellent in their roles. > > Another favorite moment: the White House tour guide blandly points out the chief of staff to tourists as he, furious, goes storming by. The tour guide is played by the always talented and hilarious Bonnie Hunt in just hird third movie role. If anyone can be memorable and hilarious in one scene, it’s someone like her. ---
**Author:** ![janis\_and\_c0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janis_and_c0/32/21_2.png) [@janis\_and\_c0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janis_and_c0)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2018, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-political-comedy-dave/813695/15 "2018-05-07T23:37:26Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Now I want to see _Dave_ again, but is it on Netflix? Of course it fucking isn’t. You may be able to buy it from youtube ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-political-comedy-dave/813695/16 "2018-05-08T00:21:51Z")
I’ll rent it if you promise me that nothing is going to jump out of Sigourney Weaver’s chest. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-political-comedy-dave/813695/17 "2018-05-08T00:44:08Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Alan Reed got a new job as director of communications with the National Science Foundation. While conducting a press briefing/photo op of a temporal research project, he accidentally stumbled into the apparatus, which activated, and sent him hurtling back through time to prehistoric Foggy Bottom. To his amazement, he found a thriving community of cave people living in a village which they called “Bedrock.” With no way to return to modern times, he decided to make the best of the situation, changed his name to Fred Flintstone, got a job working in a quarry, and married a nice girl named Wilma. Basically, he assimilated, and lived a satisfying life with his new family. He also owned a doglike dinosaur as well as a saber-toothed tiger, but the tiger was only for the closing credits. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-political-comedy-dave/813695/18 "2018-05-08T00:50:58Z")
> [@janis\_and\_c0](#): > > You may be able to buy it from youtube It’s on Amazon if you have the Cinemax Prime Channel. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-political-comedy-dave/813695/19 "2018-05-08T02:18:25Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > I’ll rent it if you promise me that nothing is going to jump out of Sigourney Weaver’s chest. Adoration. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-political-comedy-dave/813695/20 "2018-05-10T04:06:26Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > I’ll rent it if you promise me that nothing is going to jump out of Sigourney Weaver’s chest. I promise. Ving Rhames would’ve crushed it with his bare hands if it did.