OD&D Pop culture references in early editions?

[GreyLord]

Some pretty obvious (though disavowed in some cases).

Lord of the Rings referrals.

The ORIGINAL Orcs (as opposed to what we have today) we obviously throwbacks upon the Tolkien idea of Orcs.
Elves, being the size they were are also Tolkien references.
Halflings are actually Hobbits.

Rangers were an attempt to recreate Aragorn.

Other things...

Spellcasting is called Vancian casting today because it was a reference to one of Vance's books

 

[Mannahnin]

The ORIGINAL Orcs (as opposed to what we have today) we obviously throwbacks upon the Tolkien idea of Orcs.
Elves, being the size they were are also Tolkien references.
Halflings are actually Hobbits.
Rangers were an attempt to recreate Aragorn.

I think everyone's aware of the LotR stuff. Plus Ents, Balrogs (until the Saul Zaentz company sued, and got Hobbits, Ents and Balrogs renamed), the Ring of Invisibility, the Pyrotechnics spell, goblins riding wolves/wargs... Though Elves in Tolkien are tall, like the Alfar in Norse or otherworld folk/Sidhe in Irish legends; not shorter than humans like D&D elves.

Spellcasting is called Vancian casting today because it was a reference to one of Vance's books

D&D spellcasting is directly based on how spells work in Vance's The Dying Earth and The Eyes of the Overworld, yes. Mazirian the Magician, in which the titular character memorizes his five spells (one of which makes him invisible, another of which stops time, and a third of which is The Excellent Prismatic Spray) being one of the most prominent examples.

And of course the episode in The Eyes of the Overworld where Cugel the Clever tries to use the Spell of Forlorn Encystment to lock a foe in a magical oubliette underground is the direct basis of the spell Imprisonment, and his getting a syllable wrong and accidentally releasing a bunch of other people who were so imprisoned in the area was both directly included as a small chance in the original 1E spell description, and of course embodied in the chance of Thieves (later Rogues) having a chance of a spell going awry when they try to cast from a scroll. That latter phenomenon also shows up in The Lords of Quarmall, a Fritz Leiber story where such a mishap happens to The Grey Mouser.

 

[Turgenev]

Dragon Magazine #48 (April 1981) had 1st Edition AD&D stats for various Saturday Morning cartoon characters (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Popeye, Rocky & Bullwinkle, and Duddly Do-Right). Here is a screenshot of the Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck write-ups.

Cheers,
Tim

 

[Burnside]

Re: Doctor Who in the states. At least in New York, 60s Who didn't really air here afaik.

Starting in the mid-70s with the Pertwee and Baker episodes, we got them on PBS roughly a year or so after they aired in the UK, and they were in heavy rotation as the show would air every weeknight as opposed to once per week, so we would churn through the seasons quickly. In the early 80s, WLIW out of Long Island aired entire 4-to-6 part serials on Sunday mornings. The show was quite well know in the New York City area at least. I remember going to a massive convention with my parents locally in 1984 (when I was 8) and Colin Baker (6th doctor) was there doing autographs (pretty sure most of his episodes hadn't actually aired in the US at the time of that convention).

 

[Voadam]

Original D&D had white apes on the encounter tables, EGG was a big fan of Barsoom.

Rakshasa are vulnerable to blessed crossbow bolts because EGG lifted the idea from an episode of Kolchak the Night Stalker.

 

[Faolyn]

The sample of play from the 2e PH includes a wererat named Ignatz--almost certainly a reference to Ignatz Mouse from Krazy Kat.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Oh, there was also a McDonalds in the Nine Hells article in Dragon #120: