Why the hell did ABC ruin this story so completely!?!

The true crime this was based on was known as the Sunset Strip Killings. The perpetrators were a couple of weird-looking misfit ne'er-do-wells: a rich boy gone to seed who liked to live off fat, homely women and a fat, homely, near-blind woman who took him in. They frequented seedy taverns and bars and cruised for victims on sleazy Sunset Strip. The victims were pathetic teenage street prostitutes and a failed 45 year old country singer who was the landlord/lover/exploiter of the female killer. There are also questions about whether the country singer was actually one of the killers and the low-rent gigolo actually just a patsy who was set up by the woman.

The series, on the other hand, turns them into a handsome and sexy couple who frequent upscale discos and rock clubs and prey upon women who look like models or actresses. The setting and characters don't even look remotely like the early 1980s.

Why couldn't they have done a gritty, realistic period-accurate treatment similar to "Monster" or "Zodiac"? It would have been a fascinating wallow into the sleazy under-society of early 80s Hollywood. A portrayal of lethal losers living desperate, depraved existences in the shadow of the great Hollywood dream. Instead, it becomes a shallow soap-opera about glammed-up Hollywood fakes. Watching this is like watching the film "Monster" if Charlize Theron had played Aileen Wournos without changing her glamorous Hollywood image. Total garbage!

The killer couple from the series:
https://www.tvovermind.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Wicked-City-1.02-640x428.jpg

The real life killer couple:
https://amurdermostfouldotcom.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/450cbee2da69b94a27ab2366bd9b71ab.jpg

Almost a parodical level of glossing and beautification of the characters has been done. Wicked City is like a Simpsons parody TV show brought to life.