Widow’s Bay has 19 Emmy nominations and 8 wins on the board from the Creative Arts ceremony before the main show even airs. For a freshman season, that’s a big flex.

If you haven’t watched it yet, you’re missing out. The show centers on Matthew Rhys as the mayor of a small New England town that has been quietly dealing with a centuries old curse, and somehow the show manages to not only be deliciously eerie but randomly hilarious at the same time without either side canceling the other out.

I think Widow’s Bay might be one of the best shows Apple TV has put out since Severance, and I say that as someone who thinks Apple TV does not get nearly enough credit for the shows it’s been quietly building. It is not the platform everyone defaults to the way they do with Netflix or HBO Max, so shows like this tend to build buzz slower even when they deserve it faster.

The buzz around this show is well earned, not manufactured like most shows are. Among those 8 Creative Arts Emmys is a supporting actress win for Betty Gilpin, who had me at “The Hunt,” a very underrated movie.

Rhys is up for lead actor in a comedy series for this role, and it’s about time. He has been turning in strong, overlooked work for years, and he’s also nominated for The Beast in Me this year, which is also well deserved because he single-handedly saved that show from Claire Danes overacting. If he wins both nominations he will become the second man in Emmy history to win in two different acting categories in the same year.

Stephen Root, who has been working steadily since the 90s and only has one prior nomination to his name, is up for supporting actor. Dale Dickey and Kate O’Flynn are both nominated for supporting actress, playing off each other so well that Dickey has publicly said she would happily watch O’Flynn win.

Now some people don’t think that Widow’s Bay should be nominated in the comedy series category because most of the show is drama with just a sprinkle of comedy on top. I see their point but I don’t agree. The comedic moments in this show were not filler, they were some of the most unexpected, well timed beats of the whole season. You don’t need to be a laugh a minute sitcom to earn a comedy win, you need the comedy you do have to actually land, and Widow’s Bay’s landed every single time.

So will it sweep? Maybe. Maybe not. It’s up against some very strong competition, and Emmy voters love a reigning champ’s victory lap as much as they love a new favorite. But I’m hoping Widow’s Bay takes it, not just because I love this show, but because television needs more of what it’s doing. We need more shows willing to take scary and funny risks.