it was poorly received by the fans? it’s the only album people (read: I) like! 
Yeah, Mojo, I know. But the dumb fans (read, teeming idiots) thought it sucked, so hardly anybody bought it when it firt came out. Rivers was upset, because it was such a personal heartfelt album, so he said fuck it, no more! Everyone I know who likes =W= lists it as their fave, but I guess we’re lucky we got it at all.
I think Pinkerton has grown to be a cult classic among a lot of young people. C’mon, it’s like the quintessential teen angst album.
Are they using the actual characters in the video or just people who look like them?
ETA: Also, “South Park” already did it! 
Here’s a list of the internet memes included in the video:
Numa Numa
Dramatic Look Gopher.
Leave Britney Alone
Afro Ninja
Diet Coke and Mentos.
GI Joe PSA
155 Shirts. (interesting side note: all the shirts that we see in the music video are themselves internet and/or meme related.)
All Your Base (One of the first BIG memes, IIRC.)
Miss Teen South Carolina (Who I must say is SMOKIN’ hot, AND has a very good sense of humor about herself)
Daath Vocal (There’s a shot of a Weezer bandmember eating behind the Numa Numa guy…probably the most obscure reference.)
Crank that Soldier Boy.
Evolution of Dance.
Tay Zonday’s Chocolate Rain.
K-Fed Papozao
Daft Hands.
Daft Bodies.
Sex Advice/Rainbow socks girl.
Kelly shoes.
And then there’s the big montage scene at the end, which has just about everyone listed above, and brief shots of:
Sneezing Panda.
Ryan vs Dorkman (I guess in a related tangent a bit of Star Wars kid?)
Peanut Butter Jelly Time.
Will it Blend? (BTW, the answer to everything is yes…it will blend.)
Charlie the Unicorn.
Thanks for the exhaustive list of links (and to mobo85 earlier)-- that cleared up a few of the lingering “huh?” moments. Sex-talk/rainbow sock girl was one of the others that piqued my interest-- she looks like the kinda fun girl I dance with at clubs, so I perked up when she was in the video.
And glad to know someone else thinks the teen pageant queen is smoking hot-- I know she was the butt of jokes when she flubbed her extemporaneous speech (which, frankly, I’d probably flub too-- stage fright!), but she’s cute and can laugh at herself. And smoking hot. Can’t state that enough.
I like how they were careful to re-create each of them and their environments so accurately, right down to camera angles.
I don’t have it in front of me, but the opening shot of the video is a reference too. Some video of a guy playing guitar.
Actually I was thinking of this one by “funtwo”:
Looks like it was a twofer! 
Thank you for the key to the references!
Honestly, for many of them it’s hard to tell. It looks like Tay Zonday, Chris Crocker, and “Kelly” are the actual people. The Numa Numa dude might be, but I refuse to watch that video (too embarrassing). The K-Fed cameo could’ve been taken from the original video, as he’s not lipsynching and I doubt he would have joined in on this anyway.
ETA: It’s safe to say the dramatic chipmunk is a recreation. 
It looks like almost all the real “celebrities” to me. The K-Fed thing is just footage from the original video, not a new version like the rest appear to be. And if that isn’t the Numa Numa guy it’s quite an amazing lookalike.
At the 2:39 mark, there’s at least one “celeb” who’s fake. In the upper left part of the shot, you get a glimpse of Dumbledore from the Potter Puppet Pals. Weezer created him because they were supposed to have the real PPP in the video, but they got lost by FedEx! They made it home safely, though, after the shoot was over.
I read that Rivers also hated the album because of how embarrassingly personal it is. I have to say Pinkerton is one of my favorites, but I can embrace Weezer in all its manifestations–I loved Maladroit, which I think is the perfect blending of the earnestness of Pinkerton with the cleaner sound on The Green Album. I can get down to anything they put together. I never understood music fans who reject new albums because they sound different. Those are my favorite kinds of albums–I like being surprised. I am so excited about this new album I can’t think straight. I will probably love it no matter what.
I saw these UFO’s in the montage scene. I recall a little discussion about them on this board a year or so ago.
Fucking great video.
Oddly moving.
bouv, there were quite a few of those internet memes I’d never seen, so I appreciate the comprehensive list because it made the video even more enjoyable the second time around.
I think it’s a moving video, too. The lyrics are inspiring.
Well, he now thinks it is great. Also of note, “I never seriously entertained the idea of breaking up the band.”
That’s a Pitchfork interview from back in January, when Alone was released. All of you Weezer fans, especially Pinkerton fans, should check it out.
I agree with you, olives, about the various sounds the band has gone through. I’m a super huge Rivers fangirl, and love every album on its own strengths. Pinkerton is my favorite based on the personal things that were going on in my life when I heard it the first time, but musically I think Maladroit is the best. I tend to listen to different albums for different moods.
Zebra thanks for the link to that interview!!