Role in The Simpsons
Dr. Nick has a medical degree from "Hollywood Upstairs Medical College", where he apparently spent much of his time using his ability to acquire prescription drugs in the 1970s to impress a succession of attractive women who were typically taller than him. 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 Riviera 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, and it is implied that this is Riviera's fault. Riviera is a stereotype of shady, immoral doctors who perform medical procedures for money with little or no regard for medical ethics, or their patients' well-being. His motto is, You've tried the best, now try the rest! In "The Girl Who Slept Too Little" he is seen digging up corpses in the graveyard for body parts, presumably to use in operations on patients. In the same episode he tells Lisa "you have a check-up on Thursday!", to which she replies "We don't go to you anymore, we have a better doctor!" and receives a congratulation from him. In the episode "Much Apu About Nothing", he is seen taking a citizenship test, implying that prior to this he was not a citizen of the United States (Although unconfirmed, much evidence supports this - not only is he likely of Latino descent, he is specifically given an Argentine accent in Spanish language dubs). In “Treehouse of Horror IX,” he injects himself with anesthetic after punching Homer in the face in order to knock him out before performing a hair transplant on him, using a pizza cutter.
The degrees in his office 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 was part of the Sigma Chi fraternity house, according to the episode "Homer's Triple Bypass." He frequently appears on infomercials, pitching all sorts of bizarre medical offers or endorsing dubious devices, 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!, with products such as the "Juice Loosener" in "Marge in Chains", an inefficient juicer made in Japan which ultimately causes an influenza epidemic in Springfield (due to one of the workers at the factory having the disease, but still going to work, thus spreading his germs through the packaging).
Dr. Nick has operated on the Simpson family a couple of times when they cannot afford their regular doctor, Dr. 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 Dr. Hibbert as an anesthesiologist during Bart's appendectomy (in 'Round Springfield) but was of little help as he accidentally anesthetized himself instead. It is revealed in the episode "Homer's Triple Bypass" that his phone number is 1-600-DOCTORB, explaining that: "The B is for Bargain!". His catchphrase is "Hi everybody!", except in The Simpsons Movie, in which he was seemingly killed with a large shard of glass, saying, "Bye, everybody...Ow." However, he has made a few appearances since.
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