Discussion Tuesday - Dungeons and Dragons and Pop Culture

All right, everyone!  It's another discussion for another Tuesday.  For those of you just tuning in, this means I will be making a claim of some sort that will undoubtedly lie somewhere between 'spurious' and 'shaky' on the continuum of validity.  Your job as is to respond to that as part of a much larger and civil discourse.  Opinions are shared, stories are told and we all learn how to love again.

Today's topic is actually inspired by some of the tangents Frontline Gamer and I explored during our hitherto unfinished Tea and Biscuits series. The central idea of one of these side conversations is that table top wargaming just hasn't caught on in American to the same scale as it has in Europe (the UK in particular).  An american goes into a hobby store and we're lucky if they stock both kinds of game (PP and GW).  

On the other hand, Dungeons and Dragons is, at this point, deeply ingrained in American pop culture.  Even beyond the basic importance of the fact that D&D was invented here and it ended up being the archetype that started the roll playing games as a 'thing.  In fairness a bunch of the fame is due to the long list of insane controversies perpetuated by some very confused people.  Despite that, there was a cartoon show in the 80's,  Tom Hanks got his start because of it and Gary Gygax could make a guest appearance on a show and it was expected that people would know about him.  I could go on, but the point is that Dungeons and Dragons pops up all over the place.  

So, today's discussion prompts are as follows (answer as many as you like):

1) Is D&D's infiltration of pop culture unique to America?

2) Compare and contrast D&D's pop culture status with that of your favorite table top wargame. Especially you Euros.

3) Discuss your favorite appearance of D&D in popular culture.  Or most obscure if you're feeling pedantic.