Tale of 2 Foxes: 'Idol' wins & Michael J. returns
   Another night of “American Idol” boosted Fox to its second sweeps victory among young adults, but NBC was surprisingly competitive thanks to Michael J. Fox’s return to primetime. Fox averaged a 7.7 rating and 19 share among young adults, ahead of NBC’s 4.9/12. ABC was third with a 3.4/9, CBS fourth at 2.6/7, UPN fifth at 2.3/6 and the WB sixth at 1.7/4, according to Nielsen overnights. 
   “Idol” averaged an 11.0 at 8 p.m., well ahead of ABC’s fast-fading “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter” and “I’m With Her,” featuring a guest spot by Brooke Shields, at 2.8. A rerun of Thursday’s super-sized “Friends” and part of “Will & Grace” pulled a 3.8 on NBC.
   Data is not exact for the 9 p.m. hour on NBC, which featured the conclusion of “Will” until 9:20, when “Scrubs” and a guest appearance by Fox began. At 9:30, NBC averaged a first-place 5.2, well ahead of second-place “24” at 3.9. UPN’s hit “America’s Next Top Model” was third at 3.6.
   At 10 p.m. NBC continued strong with “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” with a 5.5, ahead of “NYPD Blue” at 4.1. Among households Fox placed first for the night with a 10.5/6. CBS was second at 8.0/12, NBC third at 7.6/12, ABC fourth at 5.8/9, UPN fifth at 3.3/5 and the WB sixth at 3.1/5.

Couples 'Fear Factor' gives NBC Monday boost
   The absence of any special “American Idol” helped NBC to an easy No. 1 Monday night among adults 18-49 as viewers tuned in for the couples “Fear Factor” tournament. Two “Idol” specials the past two weeks had knocked “Fear” into the No. 2 spot on the night, but not this week. NBC averaged a 6.4 rating and 16 share for the night, ahead of CBS’s 5.7/14 and Fox’s 4.8/12. ABC averaged a 2.3/6, just ahead of the WB’s 2.1/5. UPN was sixth at 1.5/4, all according to Nielsen overnights.
   “Fear Factor” averaged an 8.0 at 8 p.m., growing 16 percent from start to finish. At 9 p.m. Fox’s “My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé” showed continued strength. It tied CBS’s “Everybody Loves Raymond” at 9 p.m. with a 5.9, but grew 17 percent at 9:30 to a 6.9 rating to place first for the hour. CBS’s “Two and a Half Men” with guest star Jenna Elfman held all of its “Raymond” lead-in with a 5.9. The WB’s “Everwood” grew to a 2.2 rating at 9 p.m., ahead of lead-in “Seventh Heaven’s” 2.1.
   At 10 p.m. CBS’s “CSI: Miami” finished first with a 7.5 rating. Close behind came NBC’s “Average Joe: Hawaii,” which averaged a 6.1 rating and grew 10 percent from start to end. Among households CBS was an easy No. 1 with an 11.2/17. NBC came next with an 8.5/13, Fox third at 6.4/10, ABC fourth at 4.5/7, the WB fifth at 4.0/6 and UPN sixth at 2.5/4.

Stewart assistant: Martha altered a record
One day after her attorney did a good job injecting doubt into prosecution star witness Douglas Faneuil’s testimony, Martha Stewart found herself being painted as the calculating bad guy again during her criminal trial for obstruction of justice and other charges. Testimony yesterday by Stewart assistant Ann E. Armstrong alleged that Stewart got on Armstrong’s computer to erase part of a record of a phone message from stockbroker Peter Bacanovic, who is on trial along with Stewart. Armstrong said that Stewart ordered her a few minutes later to restore the message, but her testimony fit prosecutors’ contention that Stewart was engaging in a cover-up. In December 2001 Stewart sold almost 4,000 shares of ImClone stock just before it tanked. A Securities and Exchange Commission investigator who testified yesterday said that when she interviewed Stewart, the domestic doyenne claimed not to remember if there had been a record of the Bacanovic message from Dec. 27, 2001, which read, “Peter Bacanovic thinks ImClone is going to start trading downward.” Armstrong said Stewart rewrote it to read, “Peter Bacanovic re imclone.” She allegedly made the change in January 2002, after she learned she was being investigated.

ABC cleans up 'Blue' s#e*x scene for West
The aftershocks of the Janet Jackson breast-baring earthquake are continuing to shake up network television. ABC is considering airing a pared-down version of the March 2 episode of “NYPD Blue” in the Central and Mountain time zones, where the series airs at 9 instead of 10 p.m. What’s under fire is a 15-second sex scene that “NYPD Blue” producer Steven Bochco says is actually less controversial than several others aired over the show’s 11-year run. According to Bochco, who refuses to edit the scene himself, “To suddenly find something objectionable that three days earlier would not have been is a hysterical knee-jerk response.” But ABC’s reaction to the Super Bowl halftime scandal is by no means unique – CBS has also begun carefully scrutinizing its primetime shows and NBC last week edited out a scene of an elderly patient’s breast on “ER.” Many parent activists are pleased with the networks’ sudden conservatism, but network TV producers have expressed anger over the growing double standard that allows cable channels to broadcast so-called “indecent” material without repercussions. ABC will not make a final decision about the “NYPD Blue” cut until after today’s congressional hearings on indecency.

Newsday hit with federal racketeering suit
New York metropolitan area staple Newsday has been slammed with a federal racketeering lawsuit, charged with ripping off tens of thousands of businesses. The owners of four Queens businesses yesterday filed a $100 million class action suit in U.S. District Court in Central Islip, alleging that the newspaper has been pumping up its circulation numbers in order to increase advertising rates for nearly 10 years. According to the suit, Newsday forced distributors to accept more papers than could possibly be sold and then strong-armed the distributors into dumping the unsold papers. The publication is further accused of using a computer program known as “Fudge ABC” to fabricate circulation numbers for the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Also named as defendants in the suit are Spanish-language daily Hoy, Tribune Publishing Company, four distributors and several individuals.