Jesse Watters smirked his way to the top. Fox needs him to stay there.

Tucker Carlson’s replacement at 8 p.m. is winning back viewers with edgy humor and a sunnier face of right-wing punditry. But lately, he doesn’t seem to be kidding.

Jesse Watters at the July 17 debut of his new show. “Pay attention to what gets people fired — and don’t do that,” he recalled being counseled by Sean Hannity. (Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Afew years ago, after one self-inflicted controversy or another in Jesse Watters’s bumpy rise to stardom on Fox News, Sean Hannity took him aside to offer some advice.

“Watters, the key to success in this business is longevity,” the network’s long-running conservative star told him, the younger man later recalled. “Don’t say or do anything stupid that’s going to destroy your brand and make you get out of Dodge before you’re ready to leave.”