Spousal murder for fun and profit!

Court TV’s publicists are far savvier than their programmers. The cable network debuts its first scripted series tonight, “’Til Death Do Us Part,” a docudrama anthology series of sorts based upon purportedly true stories of married couples whose lives after their wedding went horribly wrong.

John Waters hosts, playing the “Groom Reaper;” he introduces each installment and mops up the bloody remains at the end. He’s probably intended to be far wittier than he is on this show (and, in real life, he, in fact, is).

Unfortunately, Court TV’s publicity campaign for the show has proven far cleverer than the show itself. The fold-out mailer including a screener of the first two episodes also included two sets of greeting cards: One, aimed at the emotional highs accompanying a fledgling marriage – congratulations cards. On the other side, however, were cards reading “With sympathy,” with the cheeky explanation, “These days, a seemingly happy marriage can quickly come to a dead end (and we don’t necessarily mean that figuratively). If someone you care about is dealing with the law and/or a loss, send him or her a few kind words on one of the enclosed sympathy cards.”

Clearly, the fine folks at Court TV have particularly dim attitudes about the kind of people TV critics befriend.

- “’Til Death Do Us Part:” 10 tonight; Court TV.