When you think of Jay Leno, does an outpouring of filial warmth spring from your otherwise cold craggy heart? Do you feel his steady hand on your shoulder as he gently pushes you towards the doorway on your first day of school, or hear the promise of safety in his calm, comforting voice? When perusing the racks at department stores, do you find yourself inexplicably drawn to light chambray denim button-down shirts, despite their inherent atrociousness, simply because they remind you of your Leno? At your desk at work, do you sometimes catch yourself absentmindedly winding a lock of your hair around and around your fingers, because that’s what you used to do to Jay’s hair as he read you a story at night?
No? Well then congratulations! You’re not part of the sizable group of people who have an “emotional attachment” to Jay Leno, and who will therefore make his new NBC 10pm fiefdom a hit.
From The Hollywood Reporter:
After subjecting the fall slate to a comprehensive review, NewMediaMetrics' predictive analysis suggests that CBS' "NCIS: Los Angeles" should scare up big ratings Tuesdays at 9 p.m. while NBC's "The Jay Leno Show" could prove to be a powerhouse at 10 p.m., particularly on Tuesdays…
NMM co-founders Gary Reisman and Denise Larson noted that while no one has seen a final blueprint for the new Leno program, the elevated expectations are a function of viewers' "emotional attachment" to the comedian. Per NMM's findings, 17% of Leno's core demo gave him a score of at least 9 out of 10. That attachment translates into a group much more likely to watch "Leno" than anything else in the time period.
At first glance, the fact that some people really, really like Jay Leno might not seem that surprising. Of course some people like Jay Leno. After all, people like a lot of dumb things: Uggs, Chris Hansen, Grey's Anatomy, Axe, The Wendy Williams Show, etc. In many ways, Leno's Tonight Show was like those Your Baby Can Read videos, but for grown-ups: a jumble of shapes and silly headlines and easy topical jokes and chuckles that gently lulled the viewer to sleep. Leno could have simply called his new show Your Grown-Up Can Laff, With Jay Leno. But it’s the degree to which these people are emotionally attached to Leno that is a little disturbing, especially when you read this:
The NMM team's research model is derived from the methods developed by Jonathan Bowlby, the British behaviorist who in the 1940s developed a methodological approach to quantifying the emotional bond between mothers and children.