TV-Reviewed

A while back, Jon Stewart had John Waters on as a guest. He was promoting his new CourtTV series, Til Death Do Us Part. I had seen TV commercials pushing the show, but didn’t know a whole lot about the show. I tuned in for the first episode and loved it instantly. It’s a combination of comedy, drama, and documentary. Each episode features a man and woman who had recently gotten married and for one reason or another, one of them killed the other.

I realize this may not sound particularly funny, but John Waters plays the “Groom Reaper” character and always has a funny comment to make as we’re either going to or coming back from a commerical. It’s usually sarcastic and dark, which seems to go along with the show well.

Each episode is based from an actual case, with some events and names obviously altered ever so slightly.

Although I was able to watch the first three or so episodes, I have since missed another three or so. Finally, I was able to remember the show was on last night and caught the new episode entitled “Pond Scum Murder”.

Pond Scum Murder featured a husband and wife who had moved into one of those little planned communities, or whatever you want to call them. The community has very strict rules about what is allowed in the front yard. I recalled an episode of The X-Files which had a community similar to this in it. Very strange; not for me to say the least.

The husband had intended to run for the community board, but he ran into problems with his wife who is a shop-a-holic. The husband’s opponent was somehow able to get ahold of the couple’s financial information and criticized the husband and wife for their poor spending habits. After all, how could he be expected to help balance the community budget if he can’t even manage his own family’s finances?!

The husband immediately realized his wife was a liability to him as far as any sort of political campaign is concerned, so he threatened to divorce her. Since this would cut off her easy access to money, the wife shaped up and began to help with the front yard, which was a mess. The small pond out front had a lot of scum in it, so she went to the hardware store to get some cleaner and was able to talk the salesman into selling her some industrial strength cleaner.

I’m sure you can pretty much imagine where things went from here. She poisoned him and nearly got away with it until the salesman dropped by and chatted with the husband’s campaign manager. The woman’s check had bounced and he wanted the money. When the manager learned what was purchased, he insisted that he chat outside with the salesman.

The next thing you know, the police show up and haul the wife away. So much for cashing in on any insurance settlement.

If you haven’t seen the show, check it out. It’s on CourtTV on Monday nights. It’s just 30 minutes long, so it won’t take up much of your time.