'Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains' tops Thursday

After 20 seasons, CBS' "Survivor" still knows how to outwit, outplay and outlast the competition.

Thursday's debut of "Heroes vs. Villains" was the highest-rated show of the night and on par with last year's February "Survivor" opener.

"Survivor" drew 14.2 million viewers and a 4.5 preliminary rating among adults 18-49. The two-hour reality show gave a strong lead-in for CBS' "The Mentalist" (15.7 million, 3.6), which won 10 p.m. and ranked as the most-watched show of the night.

That put ABC into second place with "The Deep End" (5.7 million, 1.5) surprisingly up 15% despite increased competition from CBS. "Grey's Anatomy" (12.7 million, 4.3) and "Private Practice" (9.1 million, 3.2) were down slightly, with "Grey's" having its lowest telecast yet.

NBC's comedy lineup was steady with last week -- "Community" (5.2 million, 2.3), "Parks and Recreation" (5 million, 2.3), "The Office" (7.4 million, 3.7) and "30 Rock" (6.1 million, 2.9), followed by comedy repeats.

Fox aired an encore of "Bones" leading into the second episode of "Past Life" (5.3 million, 1.4), which got crushed at 9 p.m., down 36% from its debut on Tuesday.

The CW's "Vampire Diaries" (3.6 million, 1.5) felt the heat too, down 21% this week, with "Supernatural" (2.5 million, 1.0) weaker than usual.