Romney won, bashed Obama in the first debate. Fire vs. Ice. A knockout. The presidential race is back on. The networks are ecstatic; they have a contest to cover.

Polls: CNN flash poll of adult debate-watchers asking who won the debate: Romney 67 — Obama 25; CBS flash poll of uncommitted voters who watched the debate: Romney 46 — Obama 22.

Grades: Time’s Mark Halperin, our go-to political analyst, gave Romney an A- and Obama a B-. Halperin

Ratings: The debate drew 67.2 million total viewers on 11 networks, the largest TV audience for a presidential debate since 1992.

Social media: The most tweeted political event in history wih 10.3 million tweets.

Big Bird: An unexpected major force after Romney explained that he would cut what he considers non-essential items in the budget, including cuts to PBS, home of Sesame Street and Big Bird. “SNL” writers were surely taking notes.

Jim Lehrer: The veteran moderator lost control. He quickly faded into the background, but maybe that wasn’t a bad thing.

Next: Vice-Presidential candidates Joe Biden and Paul Ryan debate next on Oct. 11. The second of three Presidential debates takes place on Oct. 16 at Hofstra University. In the form of a town meeting. Moderator: Caroline Crowley, CNN chief political correspondent.