For the most part, popular culture (thankfully) treats the prequels as one big punchline.

In the season premiere of Psych (which is, admittedly, a geek-centric show), Shawn sneaks into an ambassador's house to rescue a kid's vintage Darth Vader action figure which the ambassador's spoiled brat son stole. (Specifically, a vintage 1978 Darth Vader action figure with double-telescoping lightsaber - remember what I said about this show being geek-centric?)

All of the Star Wars references are to the OT,"I am your father," etc., save one. At one point, the ambassador's son says that the new Star Wars movies are better than the old ones. Gus' reaction: "We are dealing with a crazy person!"

A perfect example of my "prequels-as-punchline" hypothesis.