Not Now, Alec and Hilaria Baldwin

TLC’s lineup somehow continues to get wilder. In an unexpected move, Alec and Hilaria Baldwin are slated to headline their own family reality series, The Baldwins, coming to the network in 2025. 

The prominent Hollywood couple, who have seven children, announced the show in a chaotic Instagram reel featuring all of their kids running around screaming. “We’re inviting you into our home to experience the ups and downs; the good, the bad, the wild and the crazy. Home is the place we love the most,” Alec Baldwin says in the video. “We’re coming to TLC! God help you all!” God help us all indeed.

People are already weighing in online about Hilaria’s hilariously inconsistent Spanish accent, which is mysteriously absent from the video announcement. But the timing of their new show feels questionable, to say the least. Alec Baldwin is currently at the center of the Rust shooting incident — in October 2021, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot and killed on set after a prop gun that the actor (who also served as a co-producer on the film) was holding discharged. In January 2023, he and co-producer Hannah Gutierrez Reed were charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter. 

Although the charges against him were initially dropped in April 2023, he was indicted by a New Mexico Grand jury in January for involuntary manslaughter. The actor has pleaded not guilty to the charge and asked for it to be dismissed; his trial is scheduled for July. If convicted, he faces a potential sentence of up to 18 months in prison — needless to say, this doesn’t exactly spell out great vibes for what’s presumably supposed to be a feel-good family show. 

Famous families getting their own reality shows is obviously nothing new, and this is far from the first time TLC has dabbled in controversy (see: 19 Kids and Counting and its spin-offs, along with Here Comes Honey Boo Boo). The series announcement also comes at a time when more former reality TV stars, who were minors at the time of filming, are speaking out against the exploitative nature of such programs. In Prime Video’s Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets, Jill Duggar Dillard alleged that her parents knowingly kept her and her siblings in the dark about their contracts once they became adults and used it as a way to control them; Collin Gosselin of Jon & Kate Plus 8 has also been vocal about his turbulent childhood in front of the cameras.

TLC is always going to be TLC (after all, we’re talking about the same network that airs MILF Manor), but The Baldwins just might take things to a whole new level. We’ll see how things shake out in 2025.

Kelly Martinez is a TV Reporter based in Los Angeles. Her previous work can be found at BuzzFeed and People Magazine, among other outlets. She enjoys reading, spending time with her cat, and explaining the plot of Riverdale to people.