Is The Hills: New Beginnings appropriate for teenagers?

It is rated TV-14, mostly due to pervasive drinking, coarse language, and adult relationship drama. While it lacks explicit violence or graphic sex, it models messy, toxic behavior.

Do you need to have seen the original 2006 show to understand this reboot?

Not technically, but without nostalgia for the original cast members, there is very little reason to watch it. Almost every storyline relies on decade-old rivalries.

Are Lauren Conrad or Kristin Cavallari in this series?

No. Both key leads from the original MTV franchise opted out, leaving the reboot without its original central figures.

How much of the show is actually unscripted?

Like the original 2000s series, scenes are heavily set up by producers through engineered gatherings, specific seating arrangements, and re-shot reactions.

The Hills: New Beginnings – WISE Score & Parent Review | Screenwise

The Hills: New Beginnings

Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

show2019

22%

WISE Score

Avg. Tomatometer

The mid-2000s MTV reality cast returns as 30-somethings to rehash old grudges and drink Pinot Grigio on camera.

5.5/10

50%

54%

→

The Hills: New Beginnings

show

TV-14, 2019

22%

WISE Score

Avg. Tomatometer

The mid-2000s MTV reality cast returns as 30-somethings to rehash old grudges and drink Pinot Grigio on camera.

5.5

50%

Jump to

Also rated on

5.5/10

50%

View →

Where to Watch

Loading streaming options...

Where-to-watch data byJustWatch

Screenwise Verdict

If you remember where you were when Lauren Conrad skipped Paris, this reboot exists purely to tap your 2006 nostalgia. The Hills: New Beginnings brings back most of the original cast—now in their thirties with kids, divorces, and businesses—to stand in ambiently lit Los Angeles lounges and argue over decade-old rumors.

For kids or teenagers, skip it entirely. It offers zero educational value, bad social modeling, and a continuous stream of heavy drinking and petty backstabbing. Even as guilty-pleasure reality TV, it's pretty weak.

Age Fit

Strictly for adults or older teens looking for mid-2000s nostalgia. There is nothing here for younger kids, and most teens will find the staged 30-something drama profoundly dull.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

Relies entirely on manufactured conflict, petty gossip, alcohol-fueled arguments, and superficial drama among 30-something reality cast members.

Imaginative

A derivative cash-grab reboot of a mid-2000s reality formula with no original creative spark.

Safe

Features heavy alcohol consumption, frequent profanity, and toxic relationship dynamics, though no graphic violence or nudity.

Enriching

Offers virtually zero educational value, empathy-building, or constructive insight.

Parent Info

✓

Why It Might Be Great

Nostalgia trip for adults who watched the original 2006 MTV run in high school or college.
Low-demand background noise if you specifically want mindless reality drama after a long workday.

⚠

What to Watch For

Constant heavy alcohol use fuels almost every dinner party, trip, and argument on screen.
Toxic social dynamics where adult friendships revolve around backstabbing, fake apologies, and staged confrontations.

Conversation Starters

"How much of reality TV conflict do you think is set up by producers behind the scenes?"
"Why do you think adults in their thirties still fall into high-school style social drama?"
"What makes watching people argue entertaining, even when their behavior is embarrassing?"

Deep Dive

A Reboot Nobody Asked For

When MTV resurrected The Hills in 2019, the pitch was seeing how the cast handled real adult milestones: marriage, co-parenting, sobriety, and legitimate careers. Instead, New Beginnings pushed the cast right back into producer-engineered dinner parties and forced confrontations.

Without Lauren Conrad or Kristin Cavallari acting as anchors, the show lacks a compelling center. The drama feels mechanical, and the interpersonal conflicts lack the genuine teenage stakes that made the 2006 original a pop-culture touchstone.

The drama feels entirely forced, and the interpersonal conflicts lack the genuine stakes that made the original series stick in pop culture.

Is It Worth Watching With Older Teens?

Not really. While older teens might be curious about early-2000s reality icons, New Beginnings lacks the fast pacing or chaotic energy of modern reality hits like Selling Sunset or Love Island. It sits in an awkward middle ground: too staged to feel honest, too tedious to be great trash TV.

What Parents Ask

Stills

Ask Anything

Get a personalized guide on any topic

Writing about The Hills: New Beginnings? Put this WISE score on your site