Look, I get it, keeping up with shows week to week can be exhausting. Either you don’t have the time to start with, or you’re juggling too many at once. However, I strongly recommend you take a 2-3 day break, as you can now watch what could be considered the best show of 2026, all at once, now that its 10-episode season 1 is over.
First, subscribe to Apple TV. Not just for this show, but because Apple TV, at this point, has a batting average of about 70% of its shows being good to great, as opposed to say, 5-10% for the “throw everything at the wall” Netflix. And it’s relatively cheap compared to its larger competitors ($13 a month, no ads).
Then, watch Widow’s Bay. This is the show I’m talking about, a horror comedy created by the incredibly Kate Dippold, internet famous due to this tweet, but before this, a writer on shows like Parks and Recreation. Much of the series is also directed by Hiro Murai, of Atlanta fame.
Then there’s the cast. The show is led by The Americans’ Matthew Rhys, now free from dark dramas to unleash his comedic side, and he is very, very funny, while also delivering powerful, emotional acting when the situation calls for it. Then, there’s the breakout TV star of the year, Kate O’Flynn, who leads what are probably the two best episodes of the season. They are rounded out by the omnipresent Stephen Root, who brings talent to everything he’s in.
Widow’s Bay tells the story of the mayor of a small island town, Tom Loftis (Rhys), attempting to bring tourists in from the outside world. The problem is that the island is haunted, afflicted by some sort of dark curse that goes back generations, and the show is a series of “haunting of the week” episodes at times, but a connecting thread of the dark reason for all of this, culminating in the powerful, surprising, less funny than usual finale that aired last night.
Critics and audiences love it, giving it 97% and 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, respectively. It has a stellar 8.3/10 on IMDB, which is great, given the context of that site. Season 1 does, in fact, end on a cliffhanger, but that doesn’t matter because Apple has greenlit season 2. I’m not sure if it’s the most-watched show on Apple TV, as it hasn’t been #1 during most of its run (it is currently), but if Apple TV can make six seasons of For All Mankind plus a spinoff, Widow’s Bay should be able to run as long as it wants.
So yes, it’s time to watch it. I would recommend this not just to horror fans, but comedy fans, and I mean, who isn’t a comedy fan? Everyone is fantastic here, and the mysteries are genuinely intriguing. It’s a must-see.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
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