Apple TV may have arrived as one of the last major streaming services when it launched in 2019, but it’s managed to carve out a specific lane for itself compared to the competition. In that time, not only has Apple made a name for itself by delivering sci-fi masterpieces with regularity, but it’s also simply gotten better about debuting new shows with far more regularity. The past month alone has seen the new season of Your Friends & Neighbors and For All Mankind, but the premiere of Margo’s Got Money Troubles. Though Apple TV may not be releasing as many shows as Netflix, it’s very rarely missing.
Case in point, the latest show to arrive on the Apple TV platform, a fresh step into a new genre, the horror-comedy series Widow’s Bay. Created by Katie Dippold (The Heat, Ghostbusters), the new show proves that Apple TV isn’t constrained just by science fiction but can push into other genres too, and the reviews prove it. As of this writing, there are 36 total reviews for Widow’s Bay on Rotten Tomatoes and all of them are positive, giving the series a perfect 100% rating and a “Certified Fresh” distinction. Even better? The series is climbing the charts.
Flix Patrol, which keeps track of the Top 10 charts for various streaming services, brings word that Widow’s Bay has climbed up from in its initial position. According to the site, Widow’s Bay debuted low when it premiered this past week, landing at the #9 position on its first day. Now, though, the series has jumped up and stands as the #4 show on Apple TV, a spot it’s held for two days now.
A series being at this middle position in the first week of its premiere might usually be considered a bad sign, but it’s worth noting that the other shows above Widow’s Bay have already been around long enough for the audience to be eager to watch more, not to mention more episodes that can push them up the charts. Your Friends & Neighbors, for example, currently the #1 show on the platform, has been camping in the Top 10 for 163 days, while the #2 series, Imperfect Women, has been around for 44. Widow’s Bay has eight more episodes set to debut over the rest of the summer, so it will no doubt continue to climb.
Widow’s Bay tells the story of the titular New England town, an island community that comes with a grim history and which will perfectly scratch a genre itch for Stephen King fans. In addition to being a scary series about a specific area of the United States, the new show takes tropes of the horror genre and explores them with not only terrifying perfection but plenty of jokes along the way. The second episode, for example, not only combines the idea of an old hotel haunted by various ghosts but also incorporates a killer clown into the mix. If those aren’t great for Stephen King fans, not sure what else qualifies.
Not only does Widow’s Bay arrive as a great genre exercise, but the series has a tremendous ensemble cast. Matthew Rhys stars as the jumpy mayor of the town, eager to make it a tourist hot spot and unwilling to accept its terrifying underbelly. The series is also a regular Who’s Who of character actors, including King of the Hill stars Stephen Root and Toby Huss, plus Tim Baltz (The Righteous Gemstones), Kevin Carroll (The Walking Dead), and Connor Ratliff (The George Lucas Talk Show).
The first two episodes of Widow’s Bay are streaming now.
