And as for fan pandering, it all depends if it's done well and not blatantly "HEY, THIS IS A REFERENCE!? GET IT!!??"
All of this in a nutshell. I hate when they do that crap. Like, some are nice and subtle, and hell, some of the non subtle ones are perdy damn good (I liked the reference to the Shining they did in the Smooze episode). But when it's in your face, it's just nah/10.