To clarify, I think I was a little too old at the time (~14) to have been bothered by his "alien" voice, but it did freak out my youngest brother (~9 years old at the time).

Trivia note: Bill Copeland, the actor who plays the dentist, had a blink-and-you'll-miss-it role as the Secretary of State in THE DEAD ZONE, in a premonition where President Greg Stillson (Martin Sheen) informs him and the vice president that "the missiles are flying, hallelujah".

Is Zardip actually a humanoid interface for the Data Overmind?

"You can't chew milk!"

Well you can if you leave it in the fridge for a month or two.

So he travels all the way to our planet, just so that he can wander around like a dumb tourist?