The Baldwins: Alec and Hilaria’s Reality Show Faces Criticism Amidst Family Drama

Well, it’s finally here. On Feb. 23, TLC debuted The Baldwins, its latest oversized-family reality show, featuring acclaimed actor Alec Baldwin, his wife, Hilaria, and their seven kids. (Alec’s eldest child, Ireland, 29, with ex Kim Basinger, is not on the program.) The reaction was… not great. “Not a good look, The Baldwins,” chided Vogue, while Vulture termed it “grim” and Variety described watching it as “like being trapped on a vacation with someone else’s family and watching with creeping horror as they get on each other’s nerves.”

The series begins at a fraught time for the clan. Shot at the beginning of summer 2024, it opens with plenty of cute mayhem from the 30 Rock star’s brood; but looming in the background is Alec’s trial for involuntary man- slaughter in the accidental shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie Rust, which could have drained their finances and sent Alec to prison. (Charges were later dismissed.)

At one point — between messily icing a birthday cake and other kid-centric shenanigans, the 66-year-old admits, “I’m happier when I’m asleep than when I’m awake.”

Then there’s Hilaria (a.k.a. Eeelaria), who has been blasted for speaking with a Spanish accent despite being raised in Massachusetts. In one scene, the yoga instructor admits she didn’t “quite understand” what a prenuptial agreement was before she tied the knot with Alec, but says she signed it anyway. Looks as if the 41-year-old, thought to be behind the Oscar nomi- nee’s turn to reality TV, is no longer so compliant. As Alec says at one point, Hilaria now calls “all the shots.”