Dramatizations of true crime stories are a constant in today's entertainment landscape. 2025 alone has brought TV viewers Apple Cider Vinegar, about Australian wellness scammer Belle Gibson, and Good American Family, about Ukrainian orphan Natalia Grace and the family who adopted her.
Next up on the true crime docket is Peacock's limited series Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy, which covers one of America's most notorious serial killers, played by Severance co-star Michael Chernus.
From 1972 to 1978, John Wayne Gacy kidnapped, raped, and murdered 33 men and teenage boys, burying 26 of them in the crawlspace of his suburban Illinois home. He became known as the "Killer Clown" due to his appearances at events like children's birthday parties while dressed as Pogo the Clown.
In the wake of the backlash against true crime shows like Netflix and Ryan Murphy's Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, the team behind Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy strives not to glorify the killer at the show's heart.
"Absolutely in no way did I want to be a part of something that was glorifying John Gacy," Chernus told Vanity Fair. "I didn’t want to be involved in something that was gratuitously showing graphic violence or sexual assault."
According to the Vanity Fair piece, Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy does not depict any of the murders. Instead, showrunner Patrick Macmanus (The Girl From Plainville) hopes to place more emphasis on who Gacy's victims were beyond their deaths.
"We really, truly were trying to figure out a way to focus on the victims — what their lives were like and who they truly were, with no connective tissue to John Wayne Gacy at all," Macmanus told Vanity Fair. "The ultimate goal was to ensure that when people left our show, they saw more than a name. They saw more than a number. They saw more than a life associated with this horrendous tragedy, with this absolutely evil man."
Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy also stars Gabriel Luna, James Badge Dale, Michael Angarano, Chris Sullivan, and Marin Ireland.
Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy premieres Oct. 16 on Peacock.
