Television punditry is a wicked game of power and prestige, but one’s sphere of influence has been historically difficult to measure. But not anymore! Thanks to the our friends at TVEyes, we now know exactly how many times one’s name gets mentioned on air. So who’s getting the most mentions this week? Well, using the mix of magic and math that is the Mediaite Power Grid Here are the top 25 TV pundits of the week.

Frank Rich remarks on the country’s amazing, about-face, perception of President Obama in the aftermath of the health care bill. From Clark Kent to Superman in one leap over a tall bill! But are we seeing what we want to see…or what the media hopes we will click on?

Everyone has that one incorrigible media junkie in their circle of friends. You know, the one who greets you every morning with “did you see the latest Griff Jenkins ambush video?” or “Michael Calderone is leaving Politico!” Turns out there’s an entire industry of those people (if not an entire nation), and The Atlantic Wire has taken on the formidable task of chronicling their information consumption habits. Here’s your semi-weekly Media Diet.

In case you missed it, Frank Rich penned one of his epic, touchstone columns yesterday; the sort that will subsequently be brandished on both sides of the aisle as evidence the opposition had gone off the rails, as was evidenced on yesterday’s Sunday shows. It is, of course, exactly the sort of thing Rich is paid to do.

HLN host and The View panelist Joy Behar and actress Cynthia Nixon received the top honors at the Gay an Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Awards handed out March 13 in New York. Behar won the excellence in media honors and Nixon received the Vito Russo Award for advocacy by an openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender media person.

Frank Rich, in Sunday’s New York Times op-ed “After the Massachusetts Massacre” insists that a political obituary for Obama is premature, but that doesn’t mean the Democrats’ political path is promising: “If the administration sticks to this trajectory, all bets are off for the political future of a president who rode into office blessed with more high hopes, good will and serious promise than any in modern memory.”

Who: Stephen Sondheim interviewed by Frank Rich What: Writers on Writers series’ “Paris Review Interviews IV” Where: Barnes and Noble (Upper East Side) When: January 18, 2010 Thumbs: Up

Frank Rich, in today’s New York Times op-ed “The Great Tea Party Rip-Off,” argues that a grassroots movement is being exploited, not only by politicians seeking election, but by companies, marketers and lobbyists. “Both Steele and Palin claim to be devotees of the tea party movement,” Rich writes skeptically, wondering if the group is “being co-opted by hucksters.”

Maybe Newsweek was onto something, after all. At the end of the first week of Sarah Palin’s hugely successful book tour the question most pundits (and much of the G.O.P.) seem to be asking themselves is what do we do about the Palin problem. Answer: no one has a clue.

New York Times columnist Frank Rich gives Going Rogue a go, deriding Palin’s ego and star obsession, but giving her credit for what she is: the only person in American politics that can come close to the star power of Barack Obama. Quotable indeed — and there’s more!

The NY-23 special election continues to get stranger. Now that Republican Dede Scozzafava has dropped out of the race and endorsed her Democratic opponent, Bill Owens, this is one for the history books. But what will they record? Regardless of who wins, pundits on both sides of the aisle are already writing the rough drafts.

For most, his stunt to gain attention (and possibly a TV contract) which put his entire family through a great deal of stress was abominable and exploitative.ut this morning in the New York Times, columnist Frank Rich finds compassion for Heene, painting him in a landscape of deflated economic opportunity where the most dependable job opportunity is the round-the-clock media circus and all the real hoaxers go unpunished.

“I think we have a problem,” said Frank Rich to Rachel Maddow on her show Wednesday night. He was talking about people bringing guns to health care rallies. People are bringing guns to events where President Barack Obama is speaking. And man, is that scary.

I’m not alone: the media is obsessed with Mad Men. Seeing jokes about Don Draper and photos of January Jones everywhere suits me just fine, but why do I suspect that to a big chunk of the population, the Mad Men hype feels shoved down their throats?

Yesterday I watched an advanced screener of the season three premiere of Mad Men. At this point it’s hard to imagine anyone not being aware that the show will be debuting tonight on AMC. It has officially become a cultural phenomenon. Here’s some thoughts about the premiere episode and how it might fit into the larger picture. Don’t worry hardcore fans, no spoilers here!