And before this thread devolves into film theory, yes, I know you can have a villian the viewer can hate, a clown they can laugh at, a love interest they can lust over, yadda, yadda, yadda.
But think of the best videos from the past. They always had one character we could like. Maybe it was the funny, confident top (MikeR and
Diesal) or the cocky, willing newbie (Alden, Jordan and
Logan), the hesitant straight boy (Zakk and Nu when they first started) or even a clown (Married Mike). In this case I'm talking about the hero of the scene. A director has to be able to make his hero likeable. Even an anti-hero is a bad boy we at least respect.
In a drama you can have a hero you like, a villian you hate and a best friend between the two (Torin, Aiden and Steve, anyone?). But still, you have to have someone the viewer is rooting for to succeed.
I think one of the reasons Tyler was so popular was we could easily identify with him. He was the wise-ass little bother or the cute kid from down the block. We all know a Tyler and we like that guy in real life, so we liked Tyler.