Dr. Nick Riviera

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The Simpsons character
Dr. Nick Riviera
Age	30-40
Gender	Male
Hair color	Black
Job	"Doctor"
Relatives	Unknown
First appearance	"Bart Gets Hit by a Car"
Voice actor	Hank Azaria

Dr. Nick Riviera (voiced by Hank Azaria) is a character in the long-running animated TV show The Simpsons. Nick is a quack physician (although he claims to be "just as good as Dr. Hibbert"), and a satiric reference of doctors trained in dubious medical schools in the Caribbean.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Profile

Riviera is of Hispanic descent (in the European Spanish dub he's given an Argentinian accent^{[citation needed]}) and has a medical degree from Hollywood Upstairs Medical College where he was a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity (there he apparently spent much of his time using his ability to acquire prescription drugs to impress a succession of attractive women back in the 1970s), and a great deal of luck; thus far, none of the patients he has swindled, maimed, or given useless or dangerous medical advice seems to have sued him (although a few have come after him in person, for example in "Homer's Triple Bypass" a large angry man grabs him, and Nick says "Well if it isn't my old friend Mr. McGregg - with a leg for an arm and an arm for a leg"; the man literally has an arm where a leg should be and a leg where an arm should be). He is a stereotype of shady, immoral doctors who perform medical procedures for money with little or no regard for medical ethics. In the episode "Much Apu About Nothing", he is seen taking a citizenship test, implying he is not a native or legal resident of the United States.

On the episode "Bart Gets Hit by a Car", his degrees read "Mayo Clinic Correspondence School", "Club Med School", "Female Body Inspector" and "I went to medical school for four years and all I got was this lousy diploma". He frequently appears on infomercials, pitching all sorts of bizarre medical offers, and has often turned his operations into TV spectacles. He is also shown as an inventor/huckster (in the style of Ron Popeil) on the television show I Can't Believe They Invented It! His "Walk-In Clinic" is based at 44 Bow Street. Its phone number is 555-NICK.

Dr. Nick is notable for his exclamation upon entering a room of “Hi, everybody!”, which is immediately followed by a response of “Hi, Dr. Nick!” from the other characters present (although in the episode "Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part 2", all Mr. Burns could say was “Homer Simpson" – but with the cadence of "Hi, Dr. Nick”: "HO, mer simp-SON!" – to which Dr. Nick replied “OK, that was a little strange…”) There was an Austrian version of Dr. Riviera in the episode Margical History Tour, where he portrays the doctor of the ailing Mozart, played by Bart, and his exclamation is "Guten Tag, everybody!" Another variation is an episode where Mel Gibson says, "Hi, everybody!" and Dr. Nick responds with "Hi, Mr. Gibson." Another episode featured a Jewish version of Dr. Nick during Homer's flashback to the first Christmas. Dr. Nick says: "Shalom, everybody!"

He has operated on the Simpson family a couple of times (when they cannot afford Doctor Hibbert) notably when Homer needed a heart bypass. Lisa Simpson attended the live audience for the operation and saved the day by guiding the obviously clueless Dr. Riviera through the operation ("Homer's Triple Bypass"). The character design is based somewhat on Gábor Csupó, of Klasky Csupo studios – the animators mistakenly believed Hank Azaria was impersonating Gabor, when in fact the voice was actually an imitation of Ricky Ricardo from I Love Lucy.^[1]

[edit] Comparing Dr. Hibbert and Dr. Nick

A tongue-in-cheek analysis in the Canadian Medical Association Journal compares the services of Dr. Hibbert and Dr. Nick.^[2] It concludes that Dr. Nick is a better role model for physicians; Dr. Hibbert is a paternalistic and wasteful physician, unlike Dr. Nick, who strives to cut costs and does his best to avoid the coroner.

[edit] References

The Simpsons characters
The Simpsons and relatives
Homer Simpson • Marge Simpson • Bart Simpson • Lisa Simpson • Maggie Simpson • Santa's Little Helper • Snowball II • Abraham Simpson • Patty and Selma Bouvier • Mona Simpson
Around Springfield
Jasper Beardley • Comic Book Guy • Maude Flanders • Ned Flanders • Professor Frink • Gil Gunderson • Barney Gumble • Dr. Julius Hibbert • Lionel Hutz • Reverend Timothy Lovejoy • The Sea Captain • Hans Moleman • Bleeding Gums Murphy • Apu Nahasapeemapetilon • Mayor Joe Quimby • Dr. Nick Riviera • Agnes Skinner • Cletus Spuckler • Squeaky Voiced Teen • Disco Stu • Moe Szyslak • Kirk Van Houten • Luann Van Houten • Chief Clancy Wiggum
Springfield Elementary School faculty and students
Students • Staff • Superintendent Chalmers • Lunchlady Doris • Rod and Todd Flanders • Jimbo Jones • Kearney • Edna Krabappel • Otto Mann • Nelson Muntz • Martin Prince • Seymour Skinner • Milhouse Van Houten • Ralph Wiggum • Groundskeeper Willie
Media personalities
Itchy and Scratchy • Kent Brockman • Bumblebee Man • Duffman • Krusty the Clown • Troy McClure • Roger Meyers Jr & Sr • Radioactive Man • Sideshow Mel • Rainier Wolfcastle
Springfield Nuclear Power Plant		Villains
Montgomery Burns • Carl Carlson • Frank Grimes • Lenny Leonard • Waylon Smithers		Snake • Kang and Kodos • Sideshow Bob • Springfield Mafia • Fat Tony
Miscellaneous		Families
Recurring characters • Fictional characters • One-time characters • Animals • Guest stars		The Simpsons • The Bouviers