Explicit self referential media is an interesting memetic spreading tactic.
I used to watch family guy confused as fuck as a kid. What the fuck is up with all these references? If I wanted to be in on the jokes I had to consume more of the same TV media.
Same goes for most pop/rap... in credit referential to others within the same medium. But of course not all music relies on explicit memetic references.
So the question is, why the tactic? I don't know. All I know is that it made me feel ignorant to not consume more mundane TV to feel superior in my ability to get meaningless footnoYes.