This week on On Our Streaming Radar, we have a movie, a series and a special event that might offer a little something for everybody. From big name Hollywood stars to animated adventures and live comedy chaos, here’s what’s worth checking out this week.
First up is Widow’s Bay on Apple TV. The series tells the story of a quaint town off the coast of New England with a mysterious and unsettling history lurking beneath the surface. What makes Widow’s Bay stand out is how well it balances comedy and horror, perhaps better than almost any recent project in the genre. There are genuinely suspenseful moments, intriguing mysteries and plenty of hilarity as the town’s mayor, played by Matthew Rhys, finds himself trying to uncover the unknown and make sense of the strange happenings surrounding the town.
The series was created by Katie Dippold, whose résumé already includes projects like Ghostbusters, The Heat and work as a staff writer on Parks and Recreation. Her most recent screenplay credit was Disney’s Haunted Mansion starring Owen Wilson and Danny DeVito, which is an underrated family horror comedy in its own right.
Widow’s Bay is streaming now on Apple TV.
Over on Netflix, the new animated feature Swapped arrives this week with a voice cast led by Michael B. Jordan, Juno Temple, Tracy Morgan and Cedric the Entertainer.
The film follows two sworn enemies: a small otter-like creature named Ollie, voiced by Jordan, and a bird-like Javan named Ivy, voiced by Temple, who magically swap bodies and are forced to work together. As they navigate the dangerous valley landscape they inhabit, the pair must put aside their differences to save their homes from a shared threat.
Swapped is streaming now on Netflix.
Finally, Netflix will once again dominate the social media conversation this weekend with The Roast of Kevin Hart streaming live on Mother’s Day. If history is any indication, timelines will be filled with family photos and reactions ranging from laughter to outrage once the jokes start flying.
Back in 2024, The Roast of Tom Brady became something of a cultural reset for roast comedy. The special pushed boundaries in a way many comedians felt had become increasingly difficult in modern times, and the response from the comedy world suggested a renewed appetite for the unapologetically brutal for the sake of being funny. That doesn’t mean sensitivities disappeared or became invalid, but there was definitely a feeling among comedians that roast culture had been revived in a major way.
Now Netflix hopes lightning strikes twice with Kevin Hart in the hot seat. The event will be hosted by Shane Gillis and produced by Jeff Ross, though the lineup of celebrity roasters has yet to be fully revealed. One thing feels certain… by the end of Mother’s Day night, everybody online will have an opinion about it.
