Why Matthew Rhys’ ‘Widow’s Bay’ Should Scare the Emmy Comedy Field

‘Widow’s Bay’ could be the thing that takes the cake in the Emmy race.

The Television Academy knows what it wants. Usually it’s the polished prestige drama, the bittersweet half-hour drama and the new miniseries centered around a movie star and a timely message. So when something strange enters the race, the instinct is to ask if it will fit. The better question, with three days of voting to go, is whether the Emmys see it that way.

Apple TV’s ‘Widow’s Bay’ is this season’s ‘weird thing’. The horror comedy has taken off in recent weeks, climbing the pundit charts (Variety projects 10 nominations in the most recent update), and it could be a real force on nomination morning.

Created by Katie Dippold (“Parks and Recreation” and “Ghostbusters”), it stars Matthew Rhys as Tom Loftis, the beleaguered mayor of a cursed New England island. An artful mix of Stephen King and ‘The Twilight Zone’, with an absurdist sitcom tone and a ‘Get Out’ sequence humming underneath. It refuses to be one thing. That refusal is actually the best argument for it, and not in the exhausted way in which we now litigate whether ‘The Bear’ is really a comedy.

For years, the comedy and drama categories have rewarded shows that know exactly what they are. “Widow’s Bay” doesn’t, and it’s better for the uncertainty. It can be funny and scary in the same scene. It can also hand its greatest moments not just to a single lead actor, but to a troupe of character actors, and the kind of performers that reward bodies that claim to nurture but are routinely overlooked.

With last year’s comedy winner “The Studio” absent and the drama side already yielding to “The Pitt” or “Pluribus,” the comedy push strategy can work because the show deserves it from both sides. It could have the power to compete head-to-toe with front-runners like “Hacks,” “Shrinking” and “Abbott Elementary.”

However, nothing is ever that simple and there is an obstacle to overcome. Although “Widow’s Bay” is eligible this cycle, the final three episodes, including the buzzy season finale, missed the May 31 cutoff. Only the first seven of the ten-episode first season can participate. That could hurt someone like former Emmy nominee Stephen Root (“Barry”), whose wacky Wyck does his showiest work in the back half that voters officially can’t weigh.

And yet the show soars regardless.

We’ve seen this kind of simulcast during voting before. The next chapter of FX’s “The Bear” routinely airs while the ballots have already been announced, which has left the feeling that winners like Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Liza Colón-Zayas won a season too early. Voters in general don’t study eligibility calendars (i.e Mine function). All of them know is what they’re looking at, and most importantly, them know they love it. A contender who can overcome a handicap in pure affection is exactly what the Emmys want to reward.

Then there are the “Widow” appearances, which are the real reward.

Rhys, an Emmy winner for “The Americans” and a double nominee this season as the lead in the Netflix limited series “The Beast in Me,” for which he has already earned Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations, anchors the series as Loftis, with his meme-worthy facial expressions and antics.

The surrounding ensemble is a killer line-up of supporting talent: Root, the stoic Kevin Carroll, the passionate Kingston Rumi Southwick, the beautifully present Jeff Hiller, the great Dale Dickey and the quietly scene-stealing K Callan.

The revelation, however, is Kate O’Flynn. As the socially awkward assistant Patricia, who channels a modern-day Shelley Duvall in “The Shining” to perfection, with frayed nerves, rising anxiety and two flawless standout episodes – “Beach Reads” (her standalone episode 4) and the post-deadline “Your Baggage” (episode 8 where she runs and fights the boogeyman). Often, one nominated performance can be the clearest indication to experts that a show is bigger than anyone expected. Look at Katherine LaNasa (“The Pitt”) or Annie Murphy (“Schitt’s Creek”). Their nominations (and eventual wins) were arguably essential to their show’s top series wins.

During the guest races, Betty Gilpin and Hamish Linklater prepare a meal for the island’s founding couple, and both recognitions would be a sign of strength.

Horror has never had an easy time with this Academy (or Film Academy), and that history is worth correcting. When the Emmys let the genre through the door, it’s usually through specific industry darlings and stewards. Ryan Murphy launched “American Horror Story” into a franchise that voters couldn’t ignore, and recent critical favorites like “The Last of Us” and “Wednesday” leaned on the names of its creators, Craig Mazin and Tim Burton, respectively, to land their technical nominations at the Creative Arts ceremony.

“Widow’s Bay” is built for those kinds of runs, loaded below the line, with Hiro Murai’s leadership taking center stage. And if you take a step back, Murai could be a viable threat to win his first directorial statuette if the season goes his way. He played pivotal roles in critically acclaimed series such as ‘Atlanta’, ‘The Bear’, ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith” and “Station Eleven,” but his only Emmy win to date came when he shared as executive producer in the comedy series “The Bear” win for its first season.

No director of Asian descent has ever won the comedy directing category. Murai, the Japanese-born director of “Atlanta,” has been nominated twice without winning: nominated in 2018 for “Teddy Perkins” and again in 2022 for “New Jazz,” losing to Amy Sherman-Palladino and MJ Delaney, respectively. Aziz Ansari, the Indian-American co-creator of “Master of None,” competed on the 2016 “Parents” episode and lost to Joey Soloway.

Dippold’s pilot script, “Welcome to Widow’s Bay!”, could also be a force in the writing race, and history says that the opening episode of a series is fertile ground for Emmy darlings. The comedy writer Emmy has been to the first episode of a show 13 times, eight of them for an episode literally called “Pilot,” a line that runs from “The Cosby Show” in 1985 to “Abbott Elementary” in 2022. Premieres under other names have won just as often lately, from “Cheers” and “Frasier” to “Hacks,” “The Bear” and “The Studio.” A debut that introduces an entire cursed world in just half an hour is exactly the script that voters like to honor.

None of this guarantees a nomination, let alone a win, but that’s not the point. A reward body reveals its tastes and values ​​in what it chooses to notice (and disapprove of). Rewarding “Widow’s Bay” would say that the Emmys favor risk, genre, ensembles over stars and art that doesn’t fit neatly into a box.

The voters decide now. I hope they don’t get too scared to check it off.