# Dave (TV series)

Dave (stylized as DAVE) is an American television sitcom that premiered on FXX on March 4, 2020. It was co-created by rapper/comedian Dave Burd (known by his stage name "Lil Dicky"), who plays the titular character, and Jeff Schaffer. Kevin Hart and Greg Mottola form part of the production team. Lil Dicky's real-life hype man, GaTa, co-stars as himself. On May 11, 2020, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on June 16, 2021. On February 17, 2022, FXX renewed the series for a third season, which premiered on April 5, 2023. On February 1, 2024, FX announced that there were no current plans to renew the series while Burd pursues other projects.

## Premise

The series stars a fictionalized version of Lil Dicky, a suburban neurotic Jewish man in his late twenties who has convinced himself that he's destined to be one of the best rappers of all time.

## Cast
### Main

* Dave Burd as David "Dave" Burd / "Lil Dicky", an aspiring rapper from suburban Philadelphia
* Taylor Misiak as Ally Wernick, a kindergarten-turned-high school teacher, Dave's girlfriend/ex-girlfriend
* GaTa as Davionte "GaTa" Ganter, Dave's on-stage hype man and a rapper, who lives with bipolar disorder
* Andrew Santino as Mike, Dave's roommate and later manager
* Travis "Taco" Bennett as Elliot "Elz", Dave's childhood friend, a sound engineer, producer, and DJ
* Christine Ko as Emma Wu, Ally's roommate and friend, as well as Dave's graphic designer and former coworker

### Recurring

* Gina Hecht as Carol Burd, Dave's mom
* David Paymer as Don Burd, Dave's dad
* Carlease Burke as Catherine Ganter, GaTa's aunt and adoptive mother
* Benny Blanco as himself, Dave's friend and producer
* T.K. Carter as Cliff (season 3), Dave's driver on his "Looking for Love" tour
* Chloe Bennet as Robyn (season 3), a photographer and Dave's love interest who he meets in Wisconsin
* Inga Cadranel as Ava (season 3), Dave's new publicist and later Mike's girlfriend
* Rachel McAdams as herself (season 3), a popular "movie star" whom Dave befriends

### Guest appearances

Dave features many celebrity cameos and guest appearances.

#### Season 1

* YG
* Macklemore
* Trippie Redd
* Young Thug
* Gunna
* MadeinTYO
* O.T. Genasis
* Charlamagne tha God
* Tierra Whack
* Angela Yee
* Ninja
* Justin Bieber
* Kourtney Kardashian
* Marshmello

#### Season 2

* CL
* Hailey Bieber
* Kendall Jenner
* Kyle Kuzma
* Zack Bia
* Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
* Doja Cat
* Rae Sremmurd
* J Balvin
* Zach King
* Lil Yachty
* Desiigner
* Dave East
* Denzel Curry
* DJ Drama
* Kevin Hart
* Lil Nas X

#### Season 3

* Usher
* Rick Ross
* Demi Lovato
* Don Cheadle
* Machine Gun Kelly
* Megan Fox
* Killer Mike
* Travis Barker
* Jack Harlow
* Lil Gotit
* Emma Chamberlain
* David Dobrik
* Finneas O'Connell
* Brad Pitt as Luke Bradley "Brad" Pitt
* Drake

## Episodes

| Season | Episodes | Episodes | Originally released | Originally released |
| Season | Episodes | Episodes | First released | Last released |
| 1 | 10 | 10 | March 4, 2020 (2020-03-04) | April 29, 2020 (2020-04-29) |
| 2 | 10 | 10 | June 16, 2021 (2021-06-16) | August 11, 2021 (2021-08-11) |
| 3 | 10 | 10 | April 5, 2023 (2023-04-05) | May 31, 2023 (2023-05-31) |

### Season 1 (2020)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
| 1 | 1 | "The Gander" | Greg Mottola | Dave Burd and Jeff Schaffer | March 4, 2020 (2020-03-04) | XXLD01001 | 0.292 |
| Dave meets GaTa and tries to get YG on one of his songs. ||||||||
| 2 | 2 | "Dave's First" | Greg Mottola | Yamara Taylor | March 4, 2020 (2020-03-04) | XXLD01002 | 0.220 |
| Dave's first live performance is at a memorial for a 10-year old fan; Dave struggles with comparisons to other white rappers. ||||||||
| 3 | 3 | "Hypospadias" | Greg Mottola | Dave Burd | March 11, 2020 (2020-03-11) | XXLD01003 | 0.163 |
| Dave and Ally have intimacy issues and the origin of the Lil Dicky moniker is examined. ||||||||
| 4 | 4 | "Somebody..." | Tony Yacenda | Luvh Rakhe | March 18, 2020 (2020-03-18) | XXLD01004 | 0.199 |
| Mike starts to manage Dave as a side hustle. Dave gets sick after sharing a joint with Young Thug at a party Emma invited them to. GaTa introduces Elz to Trippie Redd. ||||||||
| 5 | 5 | "Hype Man" | Tony Yacenda | Saladin Patterson | March 25, 2020 (2020-03-25) | XXLD01006 | 0.210 |
| Dave hires GaTa as his hype man and prepares to open for Meek Mill in Philadelphia. In several flashbacks, GaTa is shown to have severe mood issues, and eventually confesses to Dave, Mike, and Elz that he has bipolar disorder and is on medication. ||||||||
| 6 | 6 | "Talent Shows" | Andrew DeYoung | Dave Burd | April 1, 2020 (2020-04-01) | XXLD01007 | 0.167 |
| Dave, GaTa, Mike, and Elz stay in Dave's parents' house in Philadelphia. Dave invites his old camp friends but comes to a realization about their true intentions with help from Elz. In several flashbacks, a young Dave performs at his summer camp and pinpoints that moment as when he started believing in himself. ||||||||
| 7 | 7 | "What Wood You Wear?" | Andrew DeYoung | Alex Russell | April 8, 2020 (2020-04-08) | XXLD01005 | 0.130 |
| Emma's car is broken into after spending the night with Elz, who spends the day babysitting Trippie Redd's nephew. GaTa figures out that Emma and Elz have been hooking up, leading to Emma denying it and hurting Elz's feelings. Emma later apologizes to Elz at a silent disco he was DJing for and the two make up. ||||||||
| 8 | 8 | "PIBE" | Andrew DeYoung | Max Searle | April 15, 2020 (2020-04-15) | XXLD01008 | 0.295 |
| Dave and Mike meet with labels about a record deal, and Dave later meets Justin Bieber and Benny Blanco. At a house party of Bieber's, Dave becomes acquainted with Kourtney Kardashian. Ally and Elz watch a football game together at a bar before crashing the house party, where Elz starts a fight with Marshmello. ||||||||
| 9 | 9 | "Ally's Toast" | Ben Sinclair | Vanessa McGee | April 22, 2020 (2020-04-22) | XXLD01009 | 0.237 |
| Dave accompanies Ally to her sister's wedding in the Napa Valley. Dave fails to be mentally and emotionally present for Ally while he is distracted by a potential career move. Dave eventually accuses Ally of having no ambition, and the two break up before Dave returns to Los Angeles alone. ||||||||
| 10 | 10 | "Jail" | Tony Yacenda | Dave Burd | April 29, 2020 (2020-04-29) | XXLD01010 | 0.213 |
| Dave wants his label to put out a long, offensive track as his first single; Mike and the label both disagree, and he decides to go on The Breakfast Club in New York City to leak the track. Dave finally heeds his friends' advice and decides to rap live on the show instead, earning the respect of Charlamagne tha God. ||||||||

### Season 2 (2021)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
| 11 | 1 | "International Gander" | Jake Schreier | Lee Sung Jin | June 16, 2021 (2021-06-16) | XXLD02001 | 0.180 |
| Dave, Mike, GaTa, and Dave's intern Dan are making a video with CL in South Korea. Dave posts a picture with CL on Instagram, but GaTa photobombs while holding a joint, not knowing that marijuana is a heavily controlled substance in the country. Dan is taken off the train by police while holding Dave's backpack with his laptop while the foursome try to contact CL to apologize, and the rest try to track him down. A heated confrontation in the police station reveals that Dave's laptop has no songs. ||||||||
| 12 | 2 | "Antsy" | Ben Sinclair | Luvh Rakhe | June 16, 2021 (2021-06-16) | XXLD02002 | 0.164 |
| Dave, Mike, and GaTa return to a Los Angeles home provided by the record label. A creator's block-saddled Dave attends Elz' birthday party, where he is expecting to see Ally for the first time since their breakup. Dave ultimately does not see Ally, but brings a woman home later. ||||||||
| 13 | 3 | "The Observer" | Ben Sinclair | Max Searle | June 23, 2021 (2021-06-23) | XXLD02004 | 0.163 |
| Dave's immature bromance with Benny Blanco leads to an uncomfortable conversation with GaTa about white privilege. Mike attempts to find the source of a note left on his trash bin and film the offender. Dave pays a visit to Ally. ||||||||
| 14 | 4 | "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar" | Kitao Sakurai | Biniam Bizuneh | June 30, 2021 (2021-06-30) | XXLD02005 | 0.130 |
| Dave attempts to nail an interview with NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar after the latter is confused about a joke in one of the former's music videos. Mike takes on a duo of TikTokers as clients. GaTa has an audition. ||||||||
| 15 | 5 | "Bar Mitzvah" | Ben Sinclair | Dave Burd | July 7, 2021 (2021-07-07) | XXLD02006 | 0.152 |
| Dave and Elz, who have grown apart, are at odds during a Bar Mitzvah performance. GaTa's car is towed after a hookup and he is forced to wander Los Angeles looking for a place to charge his phone so he can track it down. Dave and Elz are kicked out of the Bar Mitzvah after encouraging the kids to loosen up, but GaTa saves the day by including the kids in an impromptu performance outside the house. ||||||||
| 16 | 6 | "Somebody Date Me" | Tayarisha Poe | Alex Russell | July 14, 2021 (2021-07-14) | XXLD02003 | 0.165 |
| Dave is distracted during a visit from his parents after matching with Doja Cat on a dating app and texting her all day. ||||||||
| 17 | 7 | "Ad Man" | Tony Yacenda | April Shih | July 21, 2021 (2021-07-21) | XXLD02007 | 0.166 |
| Dave has trouble building up confidence freestyling for the XXL Freshman Class, and his past working in an advertising agency with Emma is explored as the latter also tries to work out her professional identity. ||||||||
| 18 | 8 | "The Burds" | Tony Yacenda | Vanessa McGee | July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | XXLD02008 | 0.124 |
| The record label kicks Dave and Mike out of the Hollywood Hills house they have been residing in after finding out Dave has made no progress on his album. Dave and Mike move in with Dave's parents, who bicker constantly, and Dave's attempt to fix the situation makes it even worse. Dave's mom tells him to stop being so selfish, causing him to break down after realizing he knows nothing about his parents. Meanwhile, Mike finds a song Dave wrote for Ally following their breakup and wants it on the album to demonstrate Dave's growth as an artist. Dave ultimately shows the song to Ally in a bid to reunite after realizing their breakup is the source of his creator's block, but is rejected and leaves despondent. ||||||||
| 19 | 9 | "Enlightened Dave" | Kitao Sakurai | Luvh Rakhe & Lee Sung Jin | August 4, 2021 (2021-08-04) | XXLD02009 | 0.105 |
| Dave goes to Rick Rubin's house and meets Biff Wiff and Atoms (Ben Sinclair), supposed assistants of Rubin's who have Dave spend time in a sensory deprivation tank. Dave has multiple hallucinations featuring his friends and a bald, naked version of himself. After the duo inadvertently leave Dave in the tank too long and he nearly drowns, Dave is inspired and he runs as quickly as he can to record new music. ||||||||
| 20 | 10 | "Dave" | Alma Har'el | Dave Burd | August 11, 2021 (2021-08-11) | XXLD02010 | 0.152 |
| GaTa leaves his house after finding out his mother is putting his younger sister on the mortgage. Dave runs into a problem when Ariana Grande releases a surprise album the same day he releases his album, causing it to chart lower than it would. GaTa attempts to tell Dave that he isn't appreciating his success enough - that the album is charting, and he has an upcoming performance at the VMA's, but Dave is unfazed. A second confrontation with GaTa leads to a fight with GaTa calling out Dave's privilege and that he always sticks up for him regardless. Dave ultimately shares the VMA stage with GaTa as his equal and the two later tour together under the name "Dave" - also short for GaTa's first name, Davionte. ||||||||

### Season 3 (2023)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
| 21 | 1 | "Texas" | Brian Lannin | Luvh Rakhe & Randall Valdez Castill | April 5, 2023 (2023-04-05) | XXLD03001 | 0.137 |
| Dave starts out his tour with antics from the road. ||||||||
| 22 | 2 | "Harrison Ave" | Kitao Sakurai | Jordan Mendoza | April 5, 2023 (2023-04-05) | XXLD03003 | 0.080 |
| 23 | 3 | "Hearsay" | Tony Yacenda | Biniam Bizuneh | April 12, 2023 (2023-04-12) | XXLD03002 | 0.133 |
| 24 | 4 | "Wisconsin" | Ben Sinclair | Emma Wisdom | April 19, 2023 (2023-04-19) | XXLD03004 | 0.111 |
| 25 | 5 | "The Storm" | Shannon Murphy | Rob Rosell | April 26, 2023 (2023-04-26) | XXLD03005 | 0.105 |
| 26 | 6 | "#RIPLilDicky" | Ben Sinclair | Starlee Kine | May 3, 2023 (2023-05-03) | XXLD03006 | 0.082 |
| 27 | 7 | "Rebirthday" | Tony Yacenda | Jeanie Bergen | May 10, 2023 (2023-05-10) | XXLD03007 | 0.111 |
| 28 | 8 | "Met Gala" | Kitao Sakurai | Niles Abston & Trevor Alper | May 17, 2023 (2023-05-17) | XXLD03008 | 0.094 |
| 29 | 9 | "Dream Girl" | Shannon Murphy | Vanessa McGee | May 24, 2023 (2023-05-24) | XXLD03009 | 0.119 |
| 30 | 10 | "Looking for Love" | Kitao Sakurai | Story by : Dave Burd & Vanessa McGee Teleplay by : Dave Burd | May 31, 2023 (2023-05-31) | XXLD03010 | 0.096 |

## Music

In June 2023, Burd stated that a soundtrack album for Dave would be released "by the end of this summer", featuring music from the three seasons of the series. He was working with Benny Blanco on the album and anticipated it would have up to 20 songs, noting that the series featured "bits and pieces of songs" that he had created full versions of that were unreleased and thus needed to be mixed and mastered. In December 2023, Penith (The Dave Soundtrack) was announced, for release on January 19, 2024. "Mr. McAdams" was released as the album's first single on December 15, 2023.

### Track listing

Note
* signifies an additional producer.
Sample credits
* "Harrison Ave", contains a sample of "Wrapped up Tight", written by Charles Jones and Delilah Moore.
* "We Good", contains elements from:
** "Didn't I", written by William Daron Pulliam and Albert John Tanner, and performed by Darondo.
** "The Picture Became Quite Clear", written by Eddie Jones and Isiah Drewery, and performed by The Manhattans.

### Personnel

* Lil Dicky – vocals, engineering
* Nick Audino – instrumentation, programming, keyboards, and engineering (10)
* Ryan Baharloo – background vocals (3)
* Ashlyn Banner – production coordinator (1–3, 5, 7–11, 13–15, 19, 22)
* Benny Blanco – executive producer, instrumentation and programming (1–18, 20–22), keyboards (1–8, 10–18, 20–22), engineering
* Dylan Brady – instrumentation, programming, keyboards, and engineering (1)
* Cashmere Cat – instrumentation, programming, keyboards, and engineering (8)
* Chatz – instrumentation, programming, and keyboards (6)
* Chill Pill – instrumentation, programming, and keyboards (3)
* Jahnei Clarke – instrumentation, programming, and keyboards (4, 21)
* Casey Cuayo – mix engineer (22)
* D.A. Doman – instrumentation, programming, keyboards, and engineering (19)
* Lia Elizabeth Farrelly-Hodge – instrumentation, programming, and keyboards (2)
* GaTa – vocals (22)
* Alex Goldblatt – instrumentation, programming, and keyboards (16)
* Michael John Gove – mix engineer (1–18, 20)
* Jasper Harris – instrumentation, programming, and keyboards (2, 4, 9, 12, 16, 21)
* Eli Heisler – mix engineer (22)
* Lewis Hughes – instrumentation, programming, keyboards, and engineering (10)
* Jeff Huskins – Dolby Atmos mixing and mastering
* Jack Karaszewski – instrumentation, programming, and keyboards (5, 11, 18, 22); guitars (5); engineering (11)
* Rob Kinelski – mixing (19, 21, 22), mix engineer (19), engineer (21)
* Dave Kutch – mastering
* Henry Kwapis – instrumentation, programming, and keyboards (5, 11, 18, 22); guitars (5); engineering (11)
* Stan Lane – instrumentation, programming, and keyboards (2, 15, 20)
* Carter Lang – instrumentation, programming, and keyboards (16)
* Tom Levesque – instrumentation, programming, and keyboards (16)
* Lex – instrumentation, programming, and keyboards (3)
* Migui Maloles – mixing (1–18, 20)
* Tommy Parker – instrumentation, programming, and keyboards (9)
* Marko Penn – background vocals (3)
* Kevin Peterson – assistant mastering engineer
* Sarcastic Sounds – instrumentation, programming, keyboards, and engineering (10)
* Samuel Jimenez – instrumentation, programming, keyboards, and engineering (7)
* Eugene Tsai – instrumentation, programming, and keyboards (2)
* YG – intro speaking part (13)

## Reception
### Critical response

On Metacritic, the first season has a score of 64 out of 100 based on 10 reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 77% with an average score of 6.7 out of 10 based on 22 reviews. The website's critical consensus is, "DAVE can be just as off-putting as Lil Dicky's rap persona with its abundance of genitalia jokes and self-aggrandizement, but beneath the raunchy veneer is a surprisingly self-aware show with a sweet core."
After mixed reviews for the first few episodes that were previewed by media outlets, the second half of the season was positively received by The Guardian, IndieWire, Financial Times, and Rolling Stone. Reviewers noted the expansion of the series' sources of humor, its dedication to character development, and improved emotional depth. At the end of its first season, Dave averaged 5.32 million viewers per episode, making it the most popular comedy in FX's history. While most of the characters and actors have been praised, the "Lil Dicky" character in the show has been negatively received. Many reviewers have noted that while the character's success is the center of the show, his poor treatment of his friends makes him difficult to root for. Additionally, the first season has been criticized for exploring and idealizing fame over art. Daniel D'Addario of Variety unfavorably compared the show to Atlanta, another entry from FX. D'Addario states "When Donald Glover made an FX show about characters trying to break into the music industry, it was 'Atlanta,' among the most expansive, richly imaginative shows of the century so far. When Lil Dicky does it, it's a show whose breaks from flatly telling us about his character's private parts tend to follow a linear trajectory: Lil Dicky, a ditherer with more zeal for fame than true creative ambition, ends up trying something, it goes viral, everyone loves it."
On Metacritic, the second season has a score of 84 out of 100 based on 11 reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season received an approval rating of 92% with an average score of 8.3 out of 10 based on 13 reviews. The website's critical consensus is, "Dave still has a lot of growing up to do, but DAVE has matured into a darkly hilarious and disarmingly wise comedy about the alienating price of fame." GaTa's performance as himself has been singled as a standout from the first two seasons.
On Metacritic, the third season has a score of 84 out of 100 based on 6 reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the third season received an approval rating of 100% with an average score of 8.1 out of 10 based on 10 reviews.

### Accolades

| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
| 2021 | Satellite Awards | Best Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical | Dave Burd | Nominated |
| 2021 | Writers Guild of America Awards | New Series | Dave Burd, Vanessa McGee, Saladin Patterson, Luvh Rakhe, Alex Russell, Jeff Schaffer, Max Searle, Yamara Taylor | Nominated |
| 2022 | Writers Guild of America Awards | Episodic Comedy | Luvh Rakhe & Lee Sung Jin for "Enlightened Dave" | Nominated |
| 2023 | Black Reel Awards for Television | Outstanding Guest Performance in a Comedy Series | Don Cheadle | Nominated |