Dr. Hibbert the most unexplored character?

I was checking out the simpsons website and it occurred to me that of all the townpeople Dr Hibbert is the least i know about. He is an upper middle class African American doctor in a small town. His situation is so unique and rare that I am surprised The Simpsons has not explored his character better. Am i missing something here: a professional black man, with a picture perfect family? Even the Van Houtens went through a divorce and we all know what happened to Maude Flanders. Krusty was reunited with his father. But how about Doctor Hibbert? Has he always been a doctor and has he always been so widely respected? Being a black man in a largely white Springfield has he never felt discriminated against?

What we know about Hibbert can be summarized in a few brief sentences. He is an upper class professional. He is African American who sported a crazy Afro for a brief period in the 70s. He is the family physician for the Simpson family, and he laugs a lot, even when he is sad. this is not a holistic depiction by any means. I really like the realism the Simpsons brings to television, but my impression is that as long as the writers of the show avoid from exploring a rich and wholesome character like Doctor Hibbert they are doing a great injustice to their viewevers.

On Thu, 22 Nov 2001 21:24:37 GMT, "Volkan Unsal" wrote:

And don't forget his Mr. T phase in 80s. :)

Also, we know he is related to Bleeding Gums Murphy who is much different: a struggling Jazz musician, who has no knowledge of his family.

He also seems to take delight in gentle mocking: witness when Homer had his heart attack (the one where Dr. Nick performs the surgery with Lisa's help), he literally plays with Homer, poking and prodding him, just to demonstrate how weak his patient is.

-dave

Not to mention, the man at the adoption agency who helps Homer find his brother.

"He could be anywhere, even... Detroit."

he's also related to the guy @ the adoption agency who helped homer find his long lost brother.

-Jeffrey

"synecdoche" wrote in message news:[email]...

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Volkan Unsal wrote:

We know that Dr. Hibbert is a complete rip-off of Cliff Huxtible(sp?) of The Cosby Show. That's pretty much it to him. That was pretty much all to the old character, too.

Frankly, I find Dr. Hibbert annoying. The less I see or better yet, the less I HEAR him, the better. He's perhaps the worst Simpsons character ever, except for Poochie.

Greg Bair

I don't think that he is so much a rip-off as he is a parody.

Hmm...that's rather a strong feeling **coughracistcough** (i'm kidding, don't worry).

I think your missing the point of Poochie, so I'm left to ask the question. Is that part a joke? --- "I am a camera with its shutter open, quite passive, recording, not thinking." -Christopher Isherwood

"I am a kind of paranoid in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy." -J. D. Salinger

Maybe if we met Hibberts' Cosby-esque family?

Brendan Crowley wrote:

Yes, that was part of a joke, but I still HATE Dr. H.

And I do believe we have met his family, I expressly remember his wife at a party hosted by OFF.

Greg

And, of course, when Moe's was briefly turned into Uncle Moe's Family Feedbag.

"Daddy, this place smells like pee-pee!"

Drunk and full of pie, Katijaikat wrote:

Welcome back =)

It's nice to know that I was missed.

*weeps, then staggers away to have some more pie*

no, that honor would go to Krusty's daughter, the most annoying character

"Greg Bair" wrote in message news:[email]...

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I can't imagine a plotline based on Hibbert, though considering how dry the well has been lately, I wouldn't be surprised if we get a Hibbert episode. ________________________________________________________________

If love of money is the root of all evil, why do churches want it so badly?

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Somebody claiming to be "Volkan Unsal" wrote in news:p2eL7.497$[email]:

He's from Alabama (we learn this in "They Saved Lisa's Brain", IIRC). And he doesn't laugh, he chuckles. :-)

"As you can see, we don't believe that fur is murder, but paying for it sure is." - Dr. Hibbert & Family:)

    Leons Petrazickis
    import java.lang.disclaimer;

and don't forget we know about his two long lost brothers.

We also know that he's a Republican and a Mensa member.

Brian

Volkan Unsal wrote:

On Mon, 26 Nov 2001, Brian Beck wrote:

Isn't that a contradiction?

/ Kristian
+-------------------------------------------------------+
|Kristian Ronge |[email]|[email]|
|d99, datateknik, KTH (Kungliga Tekniska H�gskolan)     |
|d99, Computer Science, Royal Institute of Technology   |
+-------------------------------------------------------+
-"If ignorance is bliss, why aren't there more happy
  people?"

No, I'm one (well, technically I'm not, but I'm qualified to join Mensa, and I am a Republican--I'm also Jewish and at an Ivy League college, which makes me sort of unique.)

Brian

Kristian Ronge wrote:

Drunk and full of pie, Brian Beck wrote:

Aw... geez, Brian. You and your wife... you ain't brother and sister, or nuthin'... right?

Um...I'm single--and from Cleveland, so not a redneck either.

Brian

The Rack wrote:

I forgot--Hibbert's an NRA member also--I'm just an NRA sympathizer.

Brian

Brian Beck wrote:

Drunk and full of pie, Brian Beck wrote:

Krusty: Heh heh. ZOOM!

(Just being facetious about your being Jewish/Republican/etc... Moe gave a line once that seemed apt)

But, that "Nearsucker" suit you're wearing really brings out the red in your neck.

Wait...I'm confused. How does being Jewish in an Ivy make you unique? At Yale, about 30% of the students are Jewish. Either Princeton just is much less diverse (in one respect), or you're including the Republican thing in there too. :)

- mirilidium Don't mean to say you're not unique though! Honest!

mirilidium wrote:

Yeah, I'm including the Republican thing in there :) There are lots of Jews, and there are a decent number of Republicans at Princeton--but I doubt there are more than 5 Jewish Republicans.

Brian

On Tue, 27 Nov 2001, Brian Beck wrote:

I was just maing a random political joke. :-)

/ Kristian
+-------------------------------------------------------+
|Kristian Ronge |[email]|[email]|
|d99, datateknik, KTH (Kungliga Tekniska H�gskolan)     |
|d99, Computer Science, Royal Institute of Technology   |
+-------------------------------------------------------+
-"If ignorance is bliss, why aren't there more happy
  people?"

I know those words, but that sentence makes no sense.

• mirilidium, off to the Yahoo Serious Festival

And he used to be a Stonecutter (later joining the Ancient and Mystic Society of No Homers, IIRC).

Tilman

"Who wants to read something about this subject will find it in a book, the title of which I've forgotten. But it's the 42nd chapter." Professor Johann Georg August Galletti (1750-1828)

"Volkan Unsal" wrote in message news:...

I think we know more about Hibbert than we do about Moe. For example, we know that Dr. Hibbert:

He is a slave to fashion. In all of the flashbacks he is dressed in the fashion fad of the moment. He has a long lost brother who is a Jazz Musician. He has a wife and two kids. He is a member of Mensa. He is a member of the "Power Elite" who ran Sideshow Bob for Mayor. He also likes to take his family out to esoteric restaurants.

As for Moe, we know that he was one of the original Little Rascals, was a prizefighter, dated a woman who talked like Helen Hunt, and had an ancestor who was a bartender to the czars. Ixnay on the Oh-hammedMay.

Aaron "Space Museum" Hirshberg

"Aaron Hirshberg" wrote in message

Pretty impressive! I have a lot of catching up to do on Hibbert, but I think there is still ample room to explore him further. We have found out about him here and there from bits and pieces. True. But we never had an episode where the plot turned on Hibbert's caracter quirks, like we had with Apu, the Van Houtens, the Flanderses and even with Moe. Closest the series came to featuring his character in the round was in THOH 7 where he plays a trick on Hugo, holding up an empty frame through which he punches Hugo flat. This is a marvelous display of cunning! If Homer was the one who came to the attic he would probabyl whine and yell but probably not succeed in detering Hugo. Marge would resort to emotional blackmail, but Hibbert uses his fists. So you are right, there is much to Hibbert's character that we know about, but i think there should be more.

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I'm gonna spare the defeated, I'm gonna speak to the crowd. I'm gonna spare the defeated 'cuz I'm going to speak to the crowd I'm gonna teach peace to the conquered, I'm gonna tame the proud. --Dylan

Drunk and full of pie, Aaron Hirshberg wrote:

And (as others have said) another brother (his twin?) that runs the orphanage.

We also know that Moe is Italian (though his last name Syzlak sounds Czech).
And it's "Ixnay on the Oamar-May."
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