Forget ‘Widow’s Bay,’ It's Creator’s Action Hit Is Perfect From Start to Finish

Published Oct 11, 2026, 7:44 AM EDT

One of the shows that everyone’s talking about this year is Widow’s Bay, the Apple TV horror-comedy that is currently soaring up the streaming charts and broke records at The Emmys. The series is the brainchild of creator and showrunner Kate Dippold, who has the world at her feet following the show’s success. However, this acclaim didn’t arrive overnight; 13 years before we were introduced to the fictional island town, she made her feature screenwriting debut in The Heat. The well-received action-comedy featured the irresistible mix of Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock, and was a preview of the greatness to come from its writer.

‘The Heat’ Sees Unlikely Partners Team Up

Bullock stars as FBI Special Agent Sarah Ashburn, a talented investigator, but one whose devotion to the job has left her professionally isolated due to her cold and anti-social approach. She is sent to Boston to track down a drug lord, where she is paired with Shannon Mullins (McCarthy), a foul-mouthed local detective who doesn’t just bend the rules, she smashes them. Faced with little institutional support and a dangerous target, the pair must learn to work with each other if they are to bring the kingpin to justice.

Directed by Paul Feig, the film was a hit at the box office and became popular for its subversion of the buddy cop comedy. Beyond featuring two women in the lead, the film balances broad comedy with emotional growth, as well as stakes that feel thrilling when the bullets start flying. It’s tough to do something new with such a well-worn subgenre, but The Heat manages it, thanks to smart writing and a central pairing that wins you over from the beginning.

Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock are a Great Combination in ‘The Heat’

Image via 20th Century Studios

Dippold’s dialogue needed strong performers to deliver it, and there were no better candidates than McCarthy and Bullock. The Bridesmaids star made her breakthrough playing brash, uncompromising characters of the type who could easily cut through the poise of an FBI agent. While first seen as a hindrance, she becomes the motivation for Ashburn to take risks while opening up her own vulnerabilities.

Bullock is no stranger to comedy, but does a wonderful job of playing the straight woman to McCarthy’s antics. The secret weapon, however, is allowing Ashburn to open up gradually to follow her gut in the same way Mullins does, albeit with a comedically awkward delivery that makes her all the more endearing. As two women in a male-dominated field, who make themselves outsiders for different reasons, their chemistry becomes one of the movie’s biggest selling points. However, that bond is built on a solid foundation, namely Dippold’s gag-a-minute script that announced her as a talented comedic voice.

Writer Kate Dippold Gave Us a Preview of Her Talent Years Before ‘Widow’s Bay’

Mullins and Ashburn are not two characters cut out from a buddy cop book of clichés. They are distinct individuals with their own strengths and weaknesses, with the added bonus of being hilarious every time they open their mouths. That’s the secret sauce that makes Kate Dippold’s script the driving force of The Heat, creating opportunities for hilarity that the two stars leap on like a runaway suspect.

It also foreshadowed the winning formula of Widow’s Bay, which features an ensemble cast of quirky locals who add depth and character to every scene. Just as the two central characters are not one-dimensional, the people they meet during their investigation also stick in the memory for feeling separate from the crowd. Whether it’s the exasperation of Captain Woods (Demian Bichir), the abrasive community of Mullins’ family, or the FBI colleagues who react to Ashburn’s cold demeanor, each environment feels like a new location, hinting at the kind of depth Dippold would achieve with the Apple TV show.

While Kate Dippold might not have been a household name when she wrote The Heat, the hilarious film is an interesting way for fans of Widow’s Bay to seek out the origins of the mind behind their new favorite show. While a planned sequel and spin-off to the movie never came to fruition, it remains a cult hit that served as an early platform for a TV mogul of the future.