Serial Killers Anonymous: Krysten Ritter, Nahnatchaka Khan still discussing dark comedy project

More than three and half years have gone by since it was announced that Krysten Ritter would be re-teaming with Don’t Trust the B- in Apartment 23 creator Nahnatchaka Khan (who went on to create Fresh Off the Boat after Don’t Trust the B- ended) for a dark comedy series based on author/stand-up comedian Charley Warady’s novel Serial Killers Anonymous. But while Khan has gone on to direct two feature films since that announcement – the rom-com Always Be My Maybe and the time travel slasher Totally Killer – there hasn’t been any further word on Serial Killers Anonymous. The Hollywood Reporter decided to ask Khan about the project while she was doing press for Totally Killer, and she told them there’s still a chance the dark comedy series could happen.

Khan was asked, “In 2020, it was reported that you and Krysten Ritter were reuniting for a dark comedy/serial killer series. Are the two of you still hoping to pull something off?” The response: “We sure are. I love Krysten, and she and I have been talking about that and other projects, pre-strike. She’s another person that’s just so much fun to work with, and she’s so surprising as a performer and as an artist. For a while, we’ve been like, ‘It would be fun to do a Don’t Trust the B reunion, somehow, and get everybody back together.’ I don’t know if it’d be for a Christmas special or something like that, but there’ll definitely be something with Krysten, for sure.“

So while it sounds like something else will probably happen first, at least she and Ritter are still talking about Serial Killers Anonymous. When the project was announced, it was said that Khan would be writing the show with Angela LaManna, whose credits include Netflix / Marvel’s The Punisher, Channel Zero, and The Haunting of Bly Manor.

Ritter has a role on the upcoming sci-fi thriller series Orphan Black: Echoes (set in the world of the earlier series Orphan Black), but a premiere date for that one hasn’t been announced yet.

Ritter would be playing a female serial killer if the Serial Killers Anonymous series were to happen. Waraby’s novel has the following description: There’s a 12 Step Program for everything: alcohol, narcotics, cocaine, overeating, gambling, even video games. But this 12 Step Program, in a cabin hidden deep in the woods in Kentucky with between a dozen and twenty attendees is particularly unusual. A relapse from a member of Serial Killers Anonymous usually means someone other than the addict dies. The serial killer is an addict, chasing the thrill and satisfaction of the kill. When that leaves, he spends the rest of his kills trying to retrieve that feeling. Serial Killers Anonymous operates under the premise that a spiritual program is the only answer and it’s been working for this group for over 30 years. But just one slip up by one of the members could lead the police and the FBI to their cabin, condemning all the members to death row.

Orson is one of the members of Serial Killers Anonymous. He hasn’t tortured or killed a young woman in over a year and he owes it all to the program and his sponsor, Denver, who has over thirty years in the program. With only a year working the program, Orson falls in love with a woman he meets in Alcoholics Anonymous, which he also attends. Denver fears that a romantic relationship will be the thing that ruins everyone’s anonymity, through pillow talk or trust. Things begin to go wrong. The cabin is spotted but not identified by “a stranger.” Denver is sure it’s because Orson didn’t take his advice. Orson wonders if Denver’s right.

Would you like to see Krysten Ritter and Nahnatchaka Khan get the Serial Killers Anonymous series into production? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.