Community‘s latest venture into blanket forts didn’t collapse under the weight of its first face-off with a fresh Big Bang Theory since returning to the NBC line-up three weeks ago.

Rather, Community — which, mind you, also battles with American Idol — pulled a 1.7 demo rating, matching its week-ago performance with the coveted 18-49 demo (aka the beloved comedy’s second-highest tally since Sept. 29).

Community is also consistently delivering a 20 percent better demo number than 30 Rock last did in Thursday’s lead-off spot.

Big Bang, featuring guest star Leonard Nimoy’s voice, dipped 12 percent yet topped all of Thursday in the demo — with a 4.5, versus Idol‘s 4.2 — while lead-out Rules of Engagement retained 2.8 of that, up a tenth from its last outing. (Take note, CBS: Rob most recently scored a 2.6.)

Over in the Land of Sad News: Awake (3.13 mil/1.0), up against the mighty Mentalist, dropped 33 and 17 percent, respectively.

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Going hour-by-hour….

8 pm | Idol (15.3 million viewers, 4.2 rating) led the night in total audience and was steady week-to-week in both measures. ABC’s Missing (7.7 mil/1.4) dropped another 12 percent. Leading out of Community, 30 Rock (3.2 mil/1.5) was flat. Vampire Diaries (2.36 mil/1.1) was down 12 and 15 percent.

9 pm | With Grey’s still in repeat mode, Person of Interest dominated, drawing 14.4 million viewers and a 3.3 rating (on par with its last outing). Fox’s Touch touched 9.1 mil while scoring a 2.8 rating, down 23 and 15 percent from its week-ago premiere. Following an Office rerun, Up All Night (2.95 mil/1.3) dipped 13 percent to a new series-low demo. Secret Circle (1.34 mil/0.6) was down 22 and 14 percent.

10 pm | The Mentalist (13.5 mil/2.7) slipped a tenth in the demo. Next Thursday: Shonda Rhimes’ juicy Scandal premieres for ABC.