‘Widow’s Bay’ wins big at 2026 Emmys: What to know about the show

• Emmys

‘Widow’s Bay’ wins big at 2026 Emmys: What to know about the show

Matthew Rhys and Kate O’Flynn star in the Apple TV series.

ByKatie Kindelan
Tuesday, September 15, 2026 10:37AM

“Widow’s Bay” stormed the Emmy Awards on Monday night, breaking a record for a comedy series with 14 awards, including best comedy series and three acting wins. Here’s a recap of the night’s big winners.
Photo by Chloe Kern/WireImage

A horror-comedy series about a mayor trying to revive a possibly haunted small island town off the coast of New England was the breakout hit of the 2026 Emmy Awards.

The series, “Widow’s Bay,” won six Emmys on Monday’s telecast, including outstanding comedy series, outstanding writing for a comedy series, outstanding directing for a comedy series and acting awards for series’ stars Matthew Rhys, Stephen Root and Kate O’Flynn.

“Widow’s Bay” also took home eight Emmys at the Creative Arts ceremonies over the weekend, bringing its total Emmys haul this year to 14.

The Apple TV series only premiered a few months ago, in April, with new episodes released weekly through June.

Here are three things to know about the series taking Hollywood by storm.

1. ‘Widow’s Bay’ focuses on a mayor, played by Matthew Rhys

Rhys, who won an Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series, plays a character named Tom Loftis, who is the mayor of Widow’s Bay, an island town off the coast of New England.

While Rhys tries to turn the town into a tourist hotspot à la Nantucket or Martha’s Vineyard, he has to deal with the locals, who warn him the island is cursed.

As tourists begin to arrive, the locals’ superstitions begin to prove true.

“After decades of calm, the old stories that seemed too ludicrous to be true start happening again,” Apple says in its description of the show.

2. The series is a horror-comedy

Apple also describes “Widow’s Bay” as blending “genuine horror with character-driven comedy.”

Rhys told “Good Morning America” in April that when he first read the script for the series, he did in fact both laugh and feel terrified.

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“I had real moments of going ‘Oh my God, that’s terrifying,’ and then other moments of laughing out loud,” Rhys said. “I was slightly concerned that’s a tough tone to crack, but dare I say we did it.”

3. Bringing ‘Widow’s Bay’ to TV was a ‘real long shot’

The series’ showrunner, creator and writer Katie Dippold spent nearly two decades working on the pilot for what would become “Widow’s Bay.”

“It was just years of working on it, taking it apart, putting it back together, throwing things out, trying things,” Dippold previously told The Hollywood Reporter. “This is ridiculous, but whenever I went to New York, I’d go to the Museum of Natural History. I’d walk around and I would imagine what the Widow’s Bay version of the display cases would look like. That, weirdly, opened things up for me.”

Dippold, who previously wrote for “Parks & Recreation,” said getting the show made felt like a “real long shot.”

When she accepted the Emmy for outstanding comedy series Monday night, Dippold thanked Apple for taking that shot.

“Thank you, Apple, for letting us take this crazy, creative swing,” she said. “They truly just let us do this weird show, and we can’t thank you enough.”

Dippold also thanked the people who made the show with her, adding, “This group was such a great collaboration of the best, wonderful weirdos and artists. These writers, these producers, these amazing actors, these directors.”

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