Martian Successor Nadesico (TV)

In the (translated) manga, the name Nadesico comes from the phrase - Yamato Nadesico (Perfect Woman). I believe this to be wrong. Nadesico is an alternative spelling of Nadeshiko (they're both pronounced the same), which is a type of Sweet William or Pink. This would fit with the naming convention of the other ships in the series , for example the Pansy. 

Nadesico is a parody of various giant robot animes, including Evangelion, Gundam, Mazinger Z, Getter Robo, Macross and the old SD Gundam anime.

At the end of episode 10, the constellation of the Southern Cross is highlighted in the sky, recalling the classic giant mecha series Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross (aka the middle section of Robotech).

Near the end of episode 19 where the panel is thinking of catchphrases, one of the members says "Ai Obiete Imasen Ka?", which is a parody of the title of a Macross series, "Ai, Oboete Imasuka?" (Do you remember love?)

The Japanese name, Kidou Senkan Nadesico, is a combination of Uchuu Senkan Yamato and Kidou Senshi Gundam, two of the many famous series satirized by the show. The name Nadesico is an obvious parallel to Yamato (as Yamato Nadesico is a term for an ideal Japanese woman, and the Nadesico is mostly crewed by women) as well as fitting within the theme of flower named ships like the pansy.

The original North American DVD releases from ADV Films used the broadcast masters rather than the home video masters. As a result of them using those masters for their English dub, it does not sync properly in some places on the Nozomi Entertainment DVD and Blu-ray releases.

In Episode 12 at around 12:50 or so when Akito enters the room you can see a bunch of mishmash-ed model kits stacked up. One of these Is definitely the NCC 1701 Enterprise from the Original American 1967 TV Series. You can also See an X-Wing Model Kit from The Star Wars movies in the lower left pile.

In episode 19, executives meet to determine new slogans, and one suggests, "How about a poster where the captain has her fingers like this, reading, 'Naughty kids who won't fight will get it from Captain Enema!'?" This is a pun on the word kanchou, meaning "Captain" when written 館長. It does mean "enema" when written 浣腸, but it also refers to a mischevious game where "players" use their index fingers in the pose described to attempt "rear assaults" on other people's butts.