Alec Baldwin’s reality series, which follows the actor and his family in the lead up to the Rust trial, has been ripped apart by critics.

The Baldwins follows Alec, 66, his wife Hilaria, 41, and their seven children as they navigate family life split between their Manhattan apartment and East Hampton summer home.

The series, which is out now on Discovery Plus, was filmed ahead of Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial for the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was killed when a prop gun went off while Baldwin was rehearsing a scene on the set of the movie Rust in 2021.

The series has been subject to fierce criticism from reviewers, with many arguing that the series is a distasteful attempt to restore the actor’s image.

The Guardian’s Lucy Mangan called the TV programme “a new low for television” and added that the timing of the series was in “extremely poor taste”.

“In the opening episode, Hilaria makes two mentions of Hutchins, the son her death left motherless, and notes that the Baldwins’ pain cannot compare to that of the deceased’s loved ones. Which does beg the question: will this entirely unnecessary show help or further hurt the bereaved family?” asks Mangan.

“Whatever the underlying, distasteful motives the Baldwins’ participation in this may be, the programme may simply backfire on its own terms,” she continued.

Critic Ed Power, writing for The Telegraph, called the series “a saccharine pity party, where Baldwin swings between mucking about with his kids and staring into space as he contemplates the manslaughter charges”.

“Whether or not he’ll be able to revive his career remains to be seen, but this series is a low-point.”

The series features the couple discussing their 26-year age gap, their mental health and family life, as well as Hilaria addressing rumours that she faked her Spanish accent.

Power points out that the series has the “decency” to acknowledge Hutchins’s death, which occurred when Baldwin was using a prop gun – that he was told was safe – discharged on set.

In the series, Hilaria says: “Halyna lost her life in the most unthinkable tragedy. We are going to feel and carry that pain forever.”

However, Power points out that the expression of grief in the series sits “uneasily alongside the show’s wacky tone”.

Vulture’s Kathryn VanArendonk called the series “one of the darkest and most bizarre hours of television to appear in recent memory”, adding that the

Meanwhile, Daily Mail TV critic Christopher Stevens wrote of the series: “If this series is meant to make us feel sympathy, it has done the reverse.”

Baldwin was facing up to 18 months in prison if he was convicted for the involuntary manslaughter charges, though he maintained his innocence leading up to the trial.

In July, the case was dismissed with prejudice based on the misconduct of police and prosecutors over the withholding of evidence from the defence. The prosecution will not be able to file charges against Baldwin again in Hutchins’ death.

In the series, Hilaria mentioned her husband’s declining mental health since the fatal Rust shooting, saying: “Everyone who is close to Alec has seen his mental health decline. He was diagnosed with PTSD and he says, in his darkest moments, ‘If an accident had to have happened on this day, why am I still here? Why couldn’t it be me?'”

The 30 Rock actor responded: “My good friend said to me the other day, he said, ‘How are you doing?’ and I said, ‘I’m happier when I’m asleep than when I’m awake.'”

The Baldwins airs on Sunday 23 February on TLC in the US and launches Monday 24 February on discovery+ in the UK & Ireland.