Apple TV+ series Widow’s Bay is fast becoming the TV show of the moment – but according to Stephen King, there’s another, more superior new show tucked away on the service.
Since Kate Dippold’s supernatural comedy Widow’s Bay began in April, the show has generated a word-of-mouth fanbase, with many praising its blend of laughter and scares. Viewers have even called for lead stars Matthew Rhys and Kate O’Flynn to receive award recognition.
Widow’s Bay takes place in a sleepy New England town – not unlike the setting of many of King’s own novels – and the author himself has voiced praise for the series, calling it “good”.
More impressive to King, however, is Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed – which he called “even better”.
Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed is a comedy-thriller about a fact checker, played by Tatiana Maslany, who gets caught up in a web of murder and blackmail after witnessing an abduction.
The series, created by David J Rosen, was released on 20 May, but is yet to receive the sort of recognition being given to Widow’s Bay.
King, the author of Misery, Salem’s Lot and The Shining, has given the show his seal of approval, writing on X/Twitter: “It's like Hitchcock came back to do it one more time. And Tatiana Maslany is so good. The play of emotions on her face is pretty incredible. She goes from comic to terror in an instant.”
Jake Johnson, Jessy Hodges and Triangle of Sadness actor Dolly de Leon also star in the series, which marks Maslany’s return to TV after Marvel’s She-Hulk: Attorney-at-Law and the cult hit Orphan Black.
At the time of writing, the series has a 93 per cent score on review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, compared with Widow's Bay's 97 per cent.
Widow’s Bay and Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed are the latest hits to come out of AppleTV+, following on from the success of The Morning Show, starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, the workplace thriller Severance, sports comedy Ted Lasso, space race drama For All Mankind and Pluribus, the new mystery drama from Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan.
The Morning Show season five is currently in production, while Severance season three is being written. Ted Lasso is returning this summer for a fourth outing, which relocates some of the action from Richmond, London to the US, while Pluribus season two and the sixth and final season of For All Mankind are currently being written with the intention of premiering in 2027.
Widow’s Bay has been renewed for a second season, but as of now there is no word on whether Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed will return for new episodes when it ends next month.
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