A MINUTE PASSED: And now for something completely different

What a sad state of affairs! I'm editing a writing manual that is aimed at engineering undergraduates. An early chapter explains how to construct a valid argument, and the author cites the classic "Argument Clinic" sketch by Monty Python.
All well and good -- but then he feels obliged to include a footnote explaining who Monty Python is! The routines from the British comedy troupe were a staple of my high school and college social life and provided a lingua franca for people of my generation.
"It's just a flesh wound!" protests an accident-prone friend after every fracture or concussion.
"I'm not dead yet!" said a friend at a picnic on Saturday, addressing a vulture perched on a pole who was looking down avidly at the crowd.
Imagine some poor Millennial not knowing about the Cheese Shop, or the Dead Parrot, or Eric the Half a Bee, or How Not To Be Seen!
Lovely Spam, wonderful Spam . . .