Somebody else is wondering the same thing; Richard Rushfield at Buzzfeed. He wrote this today...
Four paragraphs from the bottom of Wednesday's New York Times story on the impending ouster of Jay Leno comes a very telling sentence. After nearly 800 words detailing NBC's suddenly desperate scramble to remove Leno from his Tonight Show perch and replace him with Jimmy Fallon, reporter Bill Carter points out that: "Another complicating factor has been Mr. Leno's continued success in the ratings." Such has been the tragedy of Jay Leno's career; scorned by critics, reviled by all of comedy, plotted against by executives. The host lives a lonely life, unloved by anyone except the viewers.
An excellent point. So I guess my original question in the headline of this post isn't the correct question at all. The real question should be: Why do the viewers like him?
Maybe someone should be investigating that. It would seem more helpful.
