Reality shows in the streaming world have become pretty ridiculous of late, says streaming columnist NICK OVERALL.

It seems with more and more major streaming platforms emerging, the competition to find the most absurd premise for a program is also heating up. 

Take Floor Is Lava, a show inspired by the famous children’s game and turned it into an actual reality TV spectacle.

Holey Moley made mini-golf into a tense play-off between hand-picked contestants.

There’s even been an entire show dedicated to the social media trend of guessing whether objects are real or made of cake.

Netflix’s newest escapade might just actually take the cake. 

It’s called Wonka’s The Golden Ticket: A Competition Series. 

Take a guess.

This show features a real-life chocolate factory that competitors must try to make their way through to win the ultimate prize.

And, as was the case in Roald Dahl’s beloved children’s book, there can only be one winner. 

Unlike Charlie Bucket though, that person isn’t inheriting the chocolate factory if they win.

Instead they’re taking home $3 million. That’d certainly cheer up some bedridden grandparents. 

They haven’t cheaped out on the budget for the production either.

Contestants ride a glass elevator between rooms that feature games based on Dahl’s whimsical novel.

There’s a swim through a chocolate river, a giant gumball race, even a set that makes players seem “miniature” like Mike Teevee did when he was transported into a television in the 1971 movie.

Call me a buzzkill but this really does feel like a new low, even by reality TV standards.

Netflix decided to use artificial intelligence to recreate the voice of Gene Wilder (who played Wonka in the original film) to act as a disembodied “host” of the show.

To their credit they apparently did get permission from the Wilder estate to go through with this, but something about it feels oddly macabre and encapsulating the era of soulless AI.

It is also wildly ironic that a game show in which competitors are willing to compete with cutthroat intensity is based on a novel about teaching children some humility and the pitfalls of greed. 

The greed of trying to mine any popular story for its streaming potential, right down to the most absurd of reality concepts, makes even August Gloop look disciplined by comparison. 

ON the topic of beloved children’s stories being milked, this month also marks the debut of Toy Story 5 on Disney Plus.

At this point it feels like the story of Woody and Buzz has ended twice already but once again they are back for another film and once again those talented people at Pixar have managed to justify it.

This is certainly a Toy Story for the modern age. 

It moves ahead in time to when Bonnie (the owner of the toys) has become obsessed with a digital tablet called a “lilypad” that threatens to replace her dolls, action figures, dinosaurs and whatever else 

Topical and yet again able to tug on the heartstring, it’s yet another winner for families wanting to watch something at home.

WHEN the kids are in bed though Mayday on Apple TV Plus might just be the film that some older audiences are looking for.

Part action, part drama, part comedy, this one is set in the 1980s at the height of the Cold War and follows a hotshot U.S. Navy pilot named Troy Kelly (Ryan Reynolds) who gets stranded behind enemy lines in Soviet Russia when his plane is shot down.

When an intimidating ex-KGB agent (Kenneth Branagh) finds him, Kelly thinks he’s all but doomed, but it turns out this mysterious stranger with an unexpected fondness for the home of the brave may be his only shot at getting back to the land of the free.

Teaming up together the two make a desperate attempt at escape as the Russian government ruthlessly tries to hunt them down. 

The result is a historical fiction take on a buddy cop drama and this intriguing blend of genres somehow mishmashes together to deliver 110 minutes that are compelling and entertaining.

News all day, every day at CityNews.com.au.