The Most Important Thing in Referential Comedy...?

When I came across a reference to the classic Bond villain in one of Sourcery's jokes, it hit me. Terry Pratchett's panache for humour shines through in every descriptive passage, but because of that, the Discworld series risks being anchored to a time.

Granted, it's a time that's well within the span of any author's life-time, but if Pratchett's books are unearthed 1000 years from now, there will be some questions asked about the structure of 20th to 21st century referential humour. Top among these questions is likely to be "What is he even writing about here?"

Unless, of course, things like the typical, bald, white cat stroking, scheming villain have become common place enough to transcend time - and maybe just as importantly - culture. Because if some piece of pop culture spreads from nation to nation, it's either incredibly well-timed or it taps into something that goes beyond stock characters in a series of pulp spy novels.