( CNN ) -- A lot of us were rooting for Jimmy Fallon on Monday night . Given the contentious recent history of the host chair -- Leno to O'Brien to Leno -- he was standing on a media trapdoor , with critics just waiting to pull the lever . Early reviews say he not only survived one of the highest-pressure debuts ever -- he killed it . If nothing else , a big debut buys you time . But does victimless humor -- the kind that does not slice , dice and julienne its subjects -- have legs in a culture that likes its entertainment with a serrated edge ? It 's a question that applies across demographics -- from the prized millennials , who have grown up on the discord of reality television ; to the baby boomers , who are decades into acerbic late night as we know it -- and will have to adjust to bits like slow rolling the news . It 's a tough neighborhood , with Jimmy a little like Bambi walking the streets of a war zone . Or , as Stephen Colbert jokingly ( but not inaccurately ) said on Monday night : `` Welcome to 11:30 , bitch . '' One of Fallon 's established competitors , David Letterman , in a recent monologue said that Rosie O'Donnell met her fiancÃ©e when her car broke down and Rosie `` pulls up behind her in her tow truck . '' ( Pause for nervous laughter at the lesbian joke . ) Rosie , predictably , was not amused , firing back to Dave : `` I do n't remember making fun of you when you had sex with all your interns . '' Jimmy 's humor can be topical , but almost always with a softer touch : Hillary Clinton saying she does n't know if she 'll run for president is like him saying `` I still do n't know if I 'll have a beer on St. Patrick 's Day . '' Somehow , I do n't think there will be any fights with Rosie . And in a broader context , it 's a tough entertainment media in general . Look no further than reality television , populated by macho slimeballs , back-biting boyfriend stealers and assorted high achievers in the low art of interpersonal nastiness . There is a whole new genre allowing us to make fun of rural America . No , Mama June , we 're not laughing with you . There is even research that the mean-spirited swamp that is reality TV is starting to seep into the culture in general . Researchers at Iowa State University showed 250 women three scenes : one violent , one frightening and one showing gossip -- including a woman who ostracized a friend . All got a response , but the highest mental arousal was category three , which the researchers termed `` relational aggression . '' In other words , watching people be mean to each other may `` prime the brain '' to be mean ourselves . Jimmy 's ( we 're all friends just joking around ) humor might be up against something even bigger -- right in his demographic sweet spot . A University of Michigan Institute of Social Research study looked at 72 studies of empathy among college students over 30 years . They found that empathy -- the ability to identify with others and relate to their feelings -- has dropped an incredible 40 % since 2000 . Among the reasons : the technology-driven isolation , a generational sense of entitlement and social media 's ability to call attention to ourselves . Also responsible is the winning-is-everything sports culture and huge paydays for those who climb to the top of their fields . All told , if there were a sequel today to Dr. Thomas Harris ' classic `` I 'm OK , You 're OK '' , it might be : `` I 'm OK , You 're Pathetic . '' Can Jimmy save the world from mean humor ? Doubtful ; there is a big market for cynical , biting and demeaning . But let 's hope that his first show says there is also room for just plain funny . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Peggy Drexler .
Peggy Drexler : Critics were waiting to see Fallon fall on his face , but he scored big . Fallon : Can Fallon 's ` ` nice guy '' humor compete with TV 's reality show nastiness ? She says TV shows mean - spiritedness , inability to empathize is seeping into culture . Fallon : Fallon ' n't reduce nasty ##ness , but his ` ` just plain funny '' style can succeed .