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If he can't save Today, J. Fred Muggs is living in Florida

Don't worry. That peculiar odor you have been noticing in the morning is not burning toast. It is the smell of panic -- plump and juicy egos sizzling on a very hot griddle -- at NBC's Today show. Since the end of December, when Deborah Norville replaced Jane Pauley as co-host, ratings have not merely dropped; they have gone into free fall, a dizzying decline of nearly 25% that translates into approximately 920,000 lost households. The No. 1 morning program only five months ago, Today is now a distant No. 2, far behind ABC's Good Morning America.

Rarely has a show...

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