I can only comment on season 1 and the current TD, but yeah season 1 was not as crazy and blatant with it as the newer one is, but it was certainly still there. The Cagliostro example I mentioned was from s1.
That was at least clever though
I'll rewatch some of season one tonight and see how many references I find.
Okay I just watched episode 4 of season one. Picked it at random.
I spotted a few references. There was a mole wearing a hard hat from Mega man.
It was just in the background for a second though, and not the focus of a joke, so I didn't find it too intrusive.
There's a part where Sheryl faces down a bear. She tries to calm it with a song and dance. During this she changes outfits.
I think it might be homage to something. Anyway the bear punches Sheryl in the face. I didn't mind this one either. Even though I didn't understand the homage, I still got the joke. We think Sheryl is going to calm the bear, but instead it punches her in the face.
What I did have a problem with was the part where the bear steps on a landmine. I don't remember a landmine being set up earlier in the episode. It hasn't tried to avert my expectations or anything. It just comes out of nowhere.
A lot of the slapstick stuff felt predictable. They would set something up to be optimistic, but then some wacky slapstick happens instead. It stops being funny after a while. There were a few clever jokes though, like how the milkies are lured into a cage with a trail of bananas. They swear to break free and save Sheryl, until they're given more bananas.
Tldr: eh I guess you're (mostly) right