Apple TV+ Horror-Comedy Widow's Bay Maintains Perfect RT Score
By Published May 1, 2026, 12:32 PM EDT Based in Los Angeles, Mona began her entertainment career in 2015, building experience across digital media and journalism. She has worked with major entertainment brands including iHeartMedia, E! News, Entertainment Tonight, and TMZ/TooFab, contributing to interviews, source development, and editorial production. Her writing even helped her team earn an Emmy Award at Entertainment Tonight. She has been an Entertainment & People News Reporter at ScreenRant since 2026. follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap
Apple TV+ has done it again, this time with a hilarious horror series that has become a worldwide streaming hit overnight.
Widow's Bay, which premiered on April 29, dropping its first two episodes of the season, is already sitting at the #4 spot on Apple TV+'s watch charts, with the show maintaining a . With 36 reviews calculated at the time of writing, the horror-comedy has delighted critics and audiences alike, bringing the scares, the laughs, and a star-studded cast.
The show follows Mayor Tom Loftis, played by Matthew Rhys, a single father and pragmatic mayor of a New England island town, who is forced to contend with its superstitious residents who are convinced it's cursed. Ignoring the concerns of the townsfolk, Loftis instead intends to use the lore surrounding the quiet community .
Apple TV+'s New Horror-Comedy Is Already One Of Its Best
Based on its perfect Rotten Tomatoes score, which is subject to change over the weekend, Widow's Bay is the latest Certified Fresh series on AppleTV+, and can safely be called one of its best new shows of 2026. Created by Parks and Recreation's Katie Dippold, the series boasts a star-studded cast. In addition to Rhys, Widow's Bay is led by My Lady Jane's Kate O'Flynn, with Barry's Stephen Root starring, along with Snowfall's Kevin Carroll, among others. On top of creating the series, Dippold also serves as the show's screenwriter and executive producer, with Hiro Murai of Atlanta and Mr. & Mrs. Smith fame on as director and EP.
It's clear that critics are loving the Apple TV+ horror series, "a Stephen King-style collection of chilling New England ghost stories," with just about "every horror trope" accounted for, and Collider's Emily Bernard calling Widow's Bay "the most daring, weirdest show on Apple TV" . And it seems viewers around the world are too, keeping it among the streamer's top 5 most-watched shows, filling the gap other similar Apple TV titles, such as Severance, have left in its wake since airing its season 2 finale in March of 2026.
As for whether early success will lead to another season, that remains to be seen, with Dippold noting in her press tour leading up to the show's premiere that while , she does have some ideas for the future should a second season get the green light.
Widow's Bay Is Weekly Appointment Viewing
With episodes dropping on Apple TV+ weekly, Widow's Bay gives audiences something to look forward to and talk about each week, whether in online forums or around the office, keeping the excitement going. Unlike shows that drop an entire season all at once, the 10-episode series removes the binge-like quality from the experience for those tuning in in real time, but by keeping audiences on their toes each episode, Widow's Bay stands to bring viewers back and attract new ones who are intrigued by the chatter surrounding the series.
It seems there is plenty of fervor for a show like Widow's Bay right now, too, with its label as a cross between the streamer's own, Severance, and Dippold's Parks and Rec, driving in the same crowds that have become diehard fans of Netflix properties like Midnight Mass and Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen, to MGM+'s From. Time will only tell if the show keeps this level of buzz, with new episodes airing weekly through June 17, 2026.
New episodes of Widow's Bay drop Wednesdays on Apple TV+.
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Kate O'Flynn Patricia
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