I'm just glad to hear that I'm not alone in hating pop culture references. :)
Well, I thought, for example, the BSG reference in Field Report: LA about the Invincible was something that still worked on its own- "this thing's such a hunk of junk you might as well replace one of the fighter hangars with a gift shop." So ha ha, funny. I don't even particularly mind the regimental COs in the 25th Arcturan being characters from Die Hard because it doesn't call too much attention to itself.
The Team Banzai stuff, particularly in the Warrior Trilogy, takes it too far. I'd be equally unhappy with something about the 25th Arcturan where they tear into some building in battle armor and act like it's a commando raid and they're taking prisoners when really they're just stealing shit out the vault and then, at the end Colonel Gruber falls off a building into a fountain, only to be shot dead by the dad from that Urkle show.