Dr. Nick

Dr. Nick Rivera M.D.
Gender/Sex
Status
AKA	Dr. Nick
Hair Color	Black (Sometimes Blue)
Occupation	Fraudulent Doctor
First episode appearance	Bart Gets Hit by a Car
Portrayed by	Hank Azaria

"Hi, everybody!"

―Dr. Nick's running catchphrase

Dr. Nicholas "Nick" Riviera M.D., better known as Dr. Nick, is a recurring character on The Simpsons and a cameo character in The Simpsons Movie.

Dr. Nick Riviera is a quack physician who studied at dubious medical schools, although he claims to be "just as good as Dr. Hibbert M.D.". He is inventor of Juice Loosener and Sun & Run. He is also a doctor in charge of vocal chord scraping for Mr. Burns in his weekly treatment to cheat death. Although he seemed to be killed in The Simpsons Movie by a giant shard of glass, he appears in several episodes afterwards, and it was eventually confirmed by Al Jean that the character had not been killed off as many had thought.

Biography

Nick during medical school

Riviera is of Hispanic descent and in the European Spanish dub, he is specifically given an Argentinian accent. He has a medical degree from Hollywood Upstairs Medical College (where 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, a large angry man once grabbed 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 has an arm where a leg should be and a leg where an arm should be. Dr. Nick is a stereotypical shady, immoral doctor who performs medical procedures for money with little or no regard for medical ethics, or their patients' well-being. He was once seen digging up corpses in the graveyard for body parts, presumably to use in operations on patients. Although his competence and ethics are frequently called into question, he does have some decent reasoning skills, as he ended up discovering that Mr. Burns' claims of "Homer Simpson" after awakening were just a variation of his vegetative state and not actually him identifying his shooter.

Hi, everybody!

He is seen taking a citizenship test, implying he is not a citizen of the United States. Some of his exclamations hint that he may be Argentinian, though there is no direct evidence of this. In "Homer's Triple Bypass", he watches a video on how to perform open-heart surgery and is disgusted by all the blood, implying that he may be hemophobic.

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. He can also be called at [[1]] ("The B is for 'Bargain'").

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. He also worked with Hibbert as the anesthesiologist during Bart's appendectomy and showed a large amount of shocking incompetence as he first failed to anesthetize Bart and subsequently passed out from the leaking gas.

Nick Riviera is crushed by a large shard of glass in The Simpsons Movie

During Trappuccino in The Simpsons Movie Dr. Riviera was impaled by a large shard of glass and says "Bye, everybody!" and then "faints", making him one of the few casualties of the Trappuccino incident. However, he somehow survives, as he appears after the events of the film.

Goofs

Colored with blue hair instead of black

• Book – The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family

Colored with light brown hair instead of black

• Episode – "Rosebud" While mob is leaving
• Episode – "Lost Verizon"
• Episode – "Judge Me Tender"
• Episode – "A Midsummer's Nice Dream"
• Episode – "Replaceable You"
• Episode – "To Surveil With Love"

Non-canon Appearances

The contents of this article or section are considered to be non-canon and therefore may not have actually happened/existed.

Video Games

In The Simpsons Road Rage, he says "Send me to the hospital, I pretend I work there."

A mission in The Simpsons: Hit and Run involves Bart seeking Dr. Nick's monkeys who have run away due to Dr. Nick's treatment of them. He also says a number of things if a player runs him over, such as "Hey! You drive as well as I practice medicine!" and "Don't come crying to me if you need a sex change!" He also appears in the bonus mission for level three, where Lisa retrieves Principal Skinner's 'personal items'. Dr. Nick says, "Hello, little girl! Here is the principal's anti-fungal cream!"

In The Simpsons: Tapped Out, He is a premium character. You can buy him for 90 donuts.

Dr. Nick appears in The Simpsons Game. Prior to it, he once put Lenny's artificial heart upside down and later gets confronted by Lenny. Dr. Nick just tells him he's a wondering tinker. Lenny says he loves it, and that he wears warm sleeves when it's Winter. Dr. Nick seems happy by it until Lenny says he gave him the wrong brain when he got a brain transplant which he knows he's Lenny but he has all these dreams about a 80 year old French women he's dating. Dr. Nick says he has a lot of brains lying around, so he's not saying he did it, it's just possible.

Treehouse of Horror series

Squirrel Nick

In "Treehouse of Horror IX" segment Hell Toupée Dr. Nick gives Homer a hair transplant.

In "Treehouse of Horror XIII", during the final segment Dr. Nick is transformed into a squirrel by Julius Hibbert.

In the second segment "Treehouse of Horror XXIV", Dr. Nick's head get attached to Julius Hibbert.

In the second segment "Treehouse of Horror XXV", he is seen flirting.

In the final segment "Treehouse of Horror XXXIV", Dr. Nick is transformed into Homer as the virus spreads.

Behind the Laughter

The character design of Dr. Nick is based somewhat on Gábor Csupó, of Klasky Csupo studios, who was originally from Hungary—the animators mistakenly believed Hank Azaria was impersonating Gabor, when in fact the voice was actually a bad imitation of Ricky Ricardo from I Love Lucy.

His name came from George Nichopoulos, nicknamed Dr. Nick, Elvis Presley's personal physician who was indicted on 14 counts of over-prescribing drugs to Presley and several other patients in the years following Presley's death. While Nichopoulos was acquitted of those charges, his medical license was revoked by the Tennessee medical authorities in 1993. As a reference to his namesake in "Homer's Triple Bypass" Dr Nick exclaims "Seriously, baby, I can prescribe anything I want!"

Dr. Nick also has a sign in the new HD opening theme that says "If I kill you, you don't pay".

His Business

Catchphrase

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 with varying degrees of enthusiasm. 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!" In "Lisa the Simpson", Dr. Nick greets a refrigerated Jasper Beardly with "Hi frozen body!", when entering the Kwik-E-Mart.

Appearances

Note: Most of his appearances are brief background roles. Episodes where he has a role in are in bold.

• Episode – "Bart Gets Hit by a Car"
• Episode – "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment"
• Episode – "Old Money" (mentioned in credits)
• Episode – "Brush with Greatness" (mentioned)
• Episode – "Stark Raving Dad"
• Episode – "When Flanders Failed"
• Episode – "Saturdays of Thunder"
• Episode – "So It's Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show"
• Episode – "Marge in Chains"
• Episode – "Homer's Triple Bypass"
• Episode – "Rosebud"
• Episode – "Bart's Comet"
• Episode – "Lisa's Wedding"
• Episode – "'Round Springfield"
• Episode – "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two)"
• Episode – "King-Size Homer"
• Episode – "Two Bad Neighbors"
• Episode – "22 Short Films About Springfield"
• Episode – "Much Apu About Nothing"
• Episode – "You Only Move Twice"
• Episode – "The Homer They Fall"
• Episode – "The Springfield Files"
• Episode – "My Sister, My Sitter"
• Episode – "In Marge We Trust"
• Episode – "Miracle on Evergreen Terrace"
• Episode – "Lisa the Simpson"
• THOH – "Treehouse of Horror IX"
• Episode – "Beyond Blunderdome"
• Episode – "Insane Clown Poppy"
• Episode – "Sweets and Sour Marge"
• Episode – "Lost Verizon"
• Episode – "Trilogy of Error"
• Episode – "Weekend at Burnsie's"
• Episode – "Large Marge"
• Episode – "Pray Anything"
• Episode – "Diatribe of a Mad Housewife"
• Episode – "Marge Gamer"
• Episode – "Much Apu About Nothing"
• Episode – "The Homer They Fall"
• Episode – "I'm Goin' to Praiseland"
• Episode – "Marge vs. Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples and Teens and Gays"
• THOH – "Treehouse of Horror XIII"
• Episode – "The Bart of War"
• Episode – "Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass" (cameo)
• Episode – "Dude, Where's My Ranch?"
• Episode – "Margical History Tour"
• Episode – "The Girl Who Slept Too Little"
• Episode – "Mommie Beerest"
• Episode – "Simpsons Bible Stories"
• – The Simpsons Movie
• Episode – "Eeny Teeny Maya, Moe" (Revived)
• Episode – "Penny-Wiseguys"
• Episode – "Lost Verizon"
• Episode – "Take My Life, Please"
• THOH – "Treehouse of Horror XXIV" (Dead and Shoulders)
• Episode – "To Surveil With Love"
• Episode – "Judge Me Tender"
• Episode – "The Fool Monty"
• Episode – "Replaceable You"
• Episode – "A Midsummer's Nice Dream"
• Episode – "Pulpit Friction"
• THOH – "Treehouse of Horror XXV"
• Episode – "Brick Like Me"
• Episode – "The Simpsons Guy"
• Episode – "My Fare Lady"
• Episode – "Puffless"
• Episode – "Halloween of Horror"
• Episode – "Simprovised"
• Episode – "Friends and Family"
• Episode – "Grampy Can Ya Hear Me"
• Episode – "The Old Blue Mayor She Ain't What She Used To Be"
• Episode – "Haw-Haw Land"
• Episode – "3 Scenes Plus a Tag from a Marriage" (flashback)
• Episode – "Throw Grampa from the Dane"
• Episode – "The Clown Stays in the Picture" (flashback)
• Episode – "Crystal Blue-Haired Persuasion"
• Episode – "Marge the Lumberjill" (seen at school play)
• Episode – "Highway to Well"
• Episode – "Warrin' Priests (Part Two)" (seen in church)
• Episode – "Pretty Whittle Liar"
• Episode – "Habeas Tortoise"
• Episode – "Bart's Birthday"
• Video game – The Simpsons Road Rage
• Video game – The Simpsons: Hit and Run
• Video game – The Simpsons Game
• Video game – The Simpsons: Tapped Out (unlockable)

The Simpsons: Season Two
"Bart Gets an "F"":	"Simpson and Delilah":	"Treehouse of Horror":	"Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish":	"Dancin' Homer":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Dead Putting Society":	"Bart vs. Thanksgiving":	"Bart the Daredevil":	"Itchy & Scratchy & Marge":	"Bart Gets Hit by a Car":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Minor
"One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish":	"The Way We Was":	"Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment":	"Principal Charming":	"Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?":
Absent	Absent	Minor	Absent	Absent
"Bart's Dog Gets an F":	"Old Money":	"Brush with Greatness":	"Lisa's Substitute":	"The War of the Simpsons":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Three Men and a Comic Book":	"Blood Feud":
Absent	Absent

The Simpsons: Season Three
"Stark Raving Dad":	"Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington":	"When Flanders Failed":	"Bart the Murderer":	"Homer Defined":
Cameo	Absent	Cameo	Absent	Absent
"Like Father, Like Clown":	"Treehouse of Horror II":	"Lisa's Pony":	"Saturdays of Thunder":	"Flaming Moe's":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Minor	Cameo
"Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk":	"I Married Marge":	"Radio Bart":	"Lisa the Greek":	"Homer Alone":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Bart the Lover":	"Homer at the Bat":	"Separate Vocations":	"Dog of Death":	"Colonel Homer":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Black Widower":	"The Otto Show":	"Bart's Friend Falls in Love":	"Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent

The Simpsons: Season Four
"Kamp Krusty":	"A Streetcar Named Marge":	"Homer the Heretic":	"Lisa the Beauty Queen":	"Treehouse of Horror III":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie":	"Marge Gets a Job":	"New Kid on the Block":	"Mr. Plow":	"Lisa's First Word":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Homer's Triple Bypass":	"Marge vs. the Monorail":	"Selma's Choice":	"Brother from the Same Planet":	"I Love Lisa":
Major	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Duffless":	"Last Exit to Springfield":	"So It's Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show":	"The Front":	"Whacking Day":
Absent	Absent	Minor	Absent	Absent
"Marge in Chains":	"Krusty Gets Kancelled":
Minor	Absent

The Simpsons: Season Five
"Homer's Barbershop Quartet":	"Cape Feare":	"Homer Goes to College":	"Rosebud":	"Treehouse of Horror IV":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Cameo	Absent
"Marge on the Lam":	"Bart's Inner Child":	"Boy-Scoutz 'n the Hood":	"The Last Temptation of Homer":	"$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Homer the Vigilante":	"Bart Gets Famous":	"Homer and Apu":	"Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy":	"Deep Space Homer":
Cameo	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Homer Loves Flanders":	"Bart Gets an Elephant":	"Burns' Heir":	"Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song":	"The Boy Who Knew Too Much":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Lady Bouvier's Lover":	"Secrets of a Successful Marriage":
Absent	Absent

The Simpsons: Season Six
"Bart of Darkness":	"Lisa's Rival":	"Another Simpsons Clip Show":	"Itchy & Scratchy Land":	"Sideshow Bob Roberts":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Treehouse of Horror V":	"Bart's Girlfriend":	"Lisa on Ice":	"Homer Badman":	"Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Fear of Flying":	"Homer the Great":	"And Maggie Makes Three":	"Bart's Comet":	"Homie the Clown":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Cameo	Absent
"Bart vs. Australia":	"Homer vs. Patty and Selma":	"A Star is Burns":	"Lisa's Wedding":	"Two Dozen and One Greyhounds":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"The PTA Disbands":	"'Round Springfield":	"The Springfield Connection":	"Lemon of Troy":	"Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)":
Absent	Minor	Absent	Absent	Absent

The Simpsons: Season Seven
"Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two)":	"Radioactive Man":	"Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily":	"Bart Sells His Soul":	"Lisa the Vegetarian":
Minor	Cameo	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Treehouse of Horror VI":	"King-Size Homer":	"Mother Simpson":	"Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming":	"The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular":
Cameo	Minor	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Marge Be Not Proud":	"Team Homer":	"Two Bad Neighbors":	"Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield":	"Bart the Fink":
Absent	Absent	Cameo	Absent	Absent
"Lisa The Iconoclast":	"Homer The Smithers":	"The Day The Violence Died":	"A Fish Called Selma":	"Bart on the Road":
Cameo	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"22 Short Films About Springfield":	"Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in "The Curse of the Flying Hellfish"":	"Much Apu About Nothing":	"Homerpalooza":	"Summer of 4 Ft. 2":
Minor	Absent	Cameo	Absent	Absent

The Simpsons: Season Nine
"The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson":	"The Principal and the Pauper":	"Lisa's Sax":	"Treehouse of Horror VIII":	"The Cartridge Family":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Cameo	Cameo
"Bart Star":	"The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons":	"Lisa the Skeptic":	"Realty Bites":	"Miracle on Evergreen Terrace":
Cameo	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"All Singing, All Dancing":	"Bart Carny":	"The Joy of Sect":	"Das Bus":	"The Last Temptation of Krust":
Absent	Absent	Cameo	Absent	Absent
"Dumbbell Indemnity":	"Lisa the Simpson":	"This Little Wiggy":	"Simpson Tide":	"The Trouble with Trillions":
Absent	Minor	Absent	Absent	Cameo
"Girly Edition":	"Trash of the Titans":	"King of the Hill":	"Lost Our Lisa":	"Natural Born Kissers":
Absent	Cameo	Absent	Absent	Absent

The Simpsons: Season Ten
"Lard of the Dance":	"The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace":	"Bart the Mother":	"Treehouse of Horror IX":	"When You Dish Upon a Star":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Minor	Cameo
"D'oh-in' in the Wind":	"Lisa Gets an "A"":	"Homer Simpson in: "Kidney Trouble"":	"Mayored to the Mob":	"Viva Ned Flanders":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Wild Barts Can't Be Broken":	"Sunday, Cruddy Sunday":	"Homer to the Max":	"I'm with Cupid":	"Marge Simpson in: "Screaming Yellow Honkers"":
Absent	Cameo	Cameo	Absent	Absent
"Make Room for Lisa":	"Maximum Homerdrive":	"Simpsons Bible Stories":	"Mom and Pop Art":	"The Old Man and the "C" Student":
Absent	Absent	Cameo	Absent	Absent
"Monty Can't Buy Me Love":	"They Saved Lisa's Brain":	"Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo":
Absent	Cameo	Absent

The Simpsons: Season Eleven
"Beyond Blunderdome":	"Brother's Little Helper":	"Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner?":	"Treehouse of Horror X":	"E-I-E-I-D'oh":
Minor	Minor	Absent	Cameo	Absent
"Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder":	"Eight Misbehavin'":	"Take My Wife, Sleaze":	"Grift of the Magi":	"Little Big Mom":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Faith Off":	"The Mansion Family":	"Saddlesore Galactica":	"Alone Again, Natura-Diddily":	"Missionary: Impossible":
Absent	Cameo	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Pygmoelian":	"Bart to the Future":	"Days of Wine and D'oh'ses":	"Kill the Alligator and Run":	"Last Tap Dance in Springfield":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge":	"Behind the Laughter":
Absent	Absent

Gallery

The full image gallery for Dr. Nick may be viewed at Dr. Nick/Gallery.