They've been called many names before by their customers and clients and this week, they are officially looking for a new one. Not that one, sicko.

Time Warner Cable has officially launched "Project Mercury," a behind-the-scenes marketing project to find the company a new name by the end of 2010. Why now? First, they had to come up with a name for the renaming project.

Maybe we can save TWC some bucks by asking our loyal readers to suggest their own names. And remember, all suggestions are monitored for obscenities.

No, that's not an altered image of a ransom note clipped from a clever New York Times article or a Photoshopped jpeg cooked up by our art department. Truth be told, those guys ate some mystery Chinese take-out in the office fridge and haven't been heard from since.

Time Warner has pulled out all the stops in their ongoing battle with Fox over licensing fees by accusing them of holding their viewers' favorite shows hostage.

They even went so far as to present their customers with a faux ransom note that demands the money or "you'll never see Fox again." Give Time Warner Cable one more day and they'll start mailing their customers severed toes.

In the words of Martin Lawrence from Bad Boys 2, "s#&$ just got real."

The never-ending spat between Time Warner Cable and the Fox dynasty could put some big college football games in jeopardy of not getting any airtime. If the two sides don't reach some kind of middle ground soon, it could put the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, the Fedex Orange Bowl and the Allstate Sugar Bowl in danger of a blackout.

Of course, the threat of losing the American earned right to sit on the couch and watch an endless series of football games during a holiday has spurred the government to take action. Senator John Kerry, the head of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Communication, Technology, and the Internet, has sent a letter to the two companies asking them to finish this thing up by New Years' Day. I wonder, can Congress declare war on a major media conglomerate? Guess we'll find out soon enough.