How many times was King Kong mentioned in the old toon?
 

It seems there were a lot of references and mentions (especially by Raphael) of King Kong:

The Big Blow Out: As the turtles were climbing the Technodrome, Raphael said "Now I know how King Kong must have felt".

Turtles of the Jungle: The Molecular Intensifier made Jocko big like King Kong. He takes April and climbs the Empire State Building and says "Either he's seen the movie (obviously King Kong) or he likes climbing tall buildings."

Rhino Man: Raphael jokes the diamond could be an engagement ring for King Kong.

The Return of Dregg: As Leonardo mutates, Raphael says he is doing a King Kong routine for the local news.

Divide and Conquer: Dregg is too powerful for the turtles and Raphael suggests they retreat unless anyone knows King Kong's phone number.

I'm pretty sure I missed some, but if any of you can think of any other King Kong references from the show, post them on this thread.

I liked when they referenced Godzilla in episode 5. Raph, "Where's Godzilla when you really need him?"

Not sure I can constructively contribute to the question posed in the thread title. I am sure it was a lot based on the examples your provided. However, I will say that referencing King Kong is a smart move by the writers due to the show's comedic nature. TMNT is deeply entrenched in pop culture references and since the OT was aimed at kids, any pop culture reference familiar to the kid audience was utilized ad nauseum.

What kid didn't know who King Kong was? Every kid gets the King Kong reference and as such, it was a popular approach that kids could understand.

Shoot, why not try to identify all the Godzilla references too? I know one happened in Shredder & Splintered in reference to Super Krang's Android.

Can we count Godzilla parodies? Gotta count Gorgonzola (I suppose he was technically a Gorgon parody).

Youbetcha. I love me some Gorgonzola (mostly because it's the closest we actually got to having Godzilla in the show)!

And if you're interested:

Wow, I always forget how much I liked the OT until I watch a clip. :D

Gorgonzola's mouth at the end sort of disturbed me for looking like an anus, though. :trazz: