The writing process has just begun for the second season of Apple TV‘s latest hit series Widow’s Bay.
Show creator Katie Dippold participated in Collider’s Showrunners on Showrunning panel at San Diego Comic-Con on Friday, where she opened up about the project’s startling success. Starring Matthew Rhys as the mayor of a New England island that the residents are convinced is haunted, Widow’s Bay quickly became one of television’s buzziest shows after its April launch and went on to land a whopping 19 Emmy Award nominations, including best comedy series.
“It took a long time,” Dippold said about how soon she got a sense that the show had picked up as many fans as it did. She joked that she remains “terrified” of Reddit but eventually took enough of a look on the social media platform to see that the amount of discussion about Widow’s Bay was increasing wildly. “Seeing that was really shocking.”
The writer, also known for her work on such features as The Heat and Snatched, explained that she did not know that the series had been renewed for a second season until just before the news went public. “But I was still always hoping and thinking about it,” she continued, pointing out that the writers room for season two started earlier this week. “It’s a great room, and then we’re going to be writing for the next 20 weeks.” Dippold noted that her goal is to begin filming next year for the show that also stars Kate O’Flynn, Kevin Carroll, Dale Dickey, Kingston Rumi Southwick and Stephen Root.
As for lessons from the initial season that the first-time showrunner plans to incorporate for the second one, Dippold said, “I learned pretty quickly in making it.” Dippold pointed out that she felt that the comedy worked because the actors played things straight and dramatic: “Throughout the process, it was making sure everything served that, and so that’s top of mind going into season two. Also, the scripts were longer and pretty dense. I had to make last-minute cuts for time, so I’ll just be more mindful of that because we didn’t need that much.”
She added, “In the edit, I just could see, ‘Oh, you actually didn’t need any of this stuff anyway.’ I learned a lot about what you don’t need and getting to things quicker.”
In her review of Widow’s Bay for The Hollywood Reporter, critic Angie Han wrote, “At its best, Widow’s Bay highlights the blurry line between comedy and horror.”