Cultural References

I have read and heard alot of bellyaching about TV shows that have cultural references in them as though this makes those shows worse somehow. Nothing could be further from the truth.

That sounds like something of a straw man (a false opposition), as I've never heard anyone object to cultural references, per se. It's not cultural references that people object to. It's cultural references done in a hackneyed, cheesy manner that people object to (in other words, poor writing), just as they object to anything done in a hackneyed, cheesy manner.

I suppose someone might also object if they're not familiar with the references, but - again - I'm not hearing complaints from anyone; only shoulder shrugs when those ones fly over their heads.

The biggest complaint people have is that many of today's shows are just a bunch of cultural references strung together. This sort of thing goes back to the late 70's. ... They used the narrative structure of that show to incorporate references to Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, Road to Morocco ....

You're describing parody, which goes back much further than the 70s, unless you mean 70 B.C.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Gulliver's Travels, Pogo, and Kurtzman's Mad are all examples of parodies which evolve into other parodies, and predate SCTV.
And, in a single Looney Tunes film, one can see multiple references to popular movies, movie stars, radio performers, musicians, and wartime policy.