Dr. Hibbert's Name In The Simpsons Is Secretly A Deep-Cut SNL Reference
Dr. Julius Hibbert first appeared on "The Simpsons" in the episode "Bart the Daredevil" (December 6, 1990). In that particular episode, Bart (Nancy Cartwright) was toying with the idea of being an Evel Knieval-type stunt performer, aiming to leap over Springfield Gorge on a skateboard. As a warning, Bart was taken to see Dr. Hibbert who took the boy to a special wing of Springfield hospital. In it were nothing but children who had injured themselves after imitating stunts they saw on TV. "I won't even subject you to the horrors of our Three Stooges ward," Dr. Hibbert gravely intones.
From 1990 through 2021, Dr. Hibbert was played by Harry Shearer. When viewers became sensitive to how many white actors have played animated Black characters throughout the history of animation, Shearer stepped aside and Kevin Michael Richardson took over the role.
Dr. Hibbert was kindly, bemused, but possessed of a strangely cold bedside manner. When Bart comes to see Dr. Hibbert later in the series having glued novelty toys to his face, Dr. Hibbert extracts a savage-looking multi-needled weapon declaring Bart needed a painful series of injections from it. Bart sweats in terror ... causing the toys to fall off. Dr. Hibbert explained, then, that sweat was the key, and that the needle gun was a mere button applicator he used as a prop. Why, Bart asks, didn't he just raise the termostat? "It had to be fear sweat!" Dr. Hibbert yells.
According to the "Simpsons" history book "Springfield Confidental" by Mike Reiss and Mathew Klickstein, the name of Dr. Julius Hibbert wasn't a mere creation of the "Simpsons" writers, but a reference to a real person. It seems a "Simpsons" writer was friends with a comedian named Julia Hibbert, perhaps better known by her unmarried name, Julia Sweeney.
Julia Sweeney
Julia Sweeney was one of the main "Saturday Night Live" cast from 1990 to 1994, and was perhaps best known for her character Pat, an andorgynous person whose androgyny made their peers uncomfortable. The Pat sketches revolved around others trying to determine whether they were male or female and being unable to come to any solid conclusions.
In 2019, Sweeney admitted that Pat was an insensitive character, as they were constructed to mock trans or nonbinary people. She has since apologized.
Also from 1990 to 1994, Sweeney was married to a man named Stephen Hibbert, making her Julia Hibbert. The writer of "Bart the Daredevil," Jay Kogen, was friends with Sweeney at the time, and named his doctor character after her. Because Sweeney performed under her unmarried name, it was unlikely anyone would have been able to make the connection. Sweeney remarried in 2008, but kept the name Sweeney.
Dr. Hibbert was also originally written as a woman named Julia Hibbert. However, when "The Simpsons" was moved to a coveted timeslot after "The Cosby Show," the writers felt it would be more fun to turn Dr. Hibbert into a spoof of Bill Cosby. His name was changed to Julius, and Harry Shearer gave Dr. Hibbert's voice a distinct "Cosby Show" quality. The character has appeared in 25 episodes of the show and in "The Simpsons Movie."
Sweeney never appeared on "The Simpsons," weridly enough. Recently, Sweeney appeared on TV shows like "Work in Progress" and "Shrill," and played voice roles in series like "Baby Blues," "The Goode Family," and "Family Guy." She is also known for her personal one-woman shows "God Said Ha!" about her lymphoma diagnosis, and "Letting Go of God" about her journey toward atheism. And, yes, she had a cameo in "Pulp Fiction," which you can see an image of above.