These conventions have devolved from meaningful, if smoky, gatherings of political bargaining sessions by the bigwigs of two of the world's oldest political parties into four chaotic nights of endless speechifying by people enjoying six of their 15 minutes of fame — unless Dems stretch it into a fifth episode of joy Friday night.

Two minutes after these living props leave the stage, hardly anyone remembers anything they said.

Because it's television, the real purpose of these events has dissolved into irrelevance to emphasize appearances in what have become relentless mini-sales seminars for a political brand seeking to capture power in a national election.

Besides advertising dollars, TV values appearances and looks above all else. Staff hairdressers are standing just offstage, brush and spray in hand, ready for any coif emergency.

And if this focus on appearances cheapens and weakens what should be the serious process of selecting national leaders, so be it. Anyone pointing that out just won't get on camera. So, they might as well not exist.

There is something about a television camera that causes ordinarily sensible people to lose it. You may have noticed that among delegates wearing funny hats this week. Or watch the football crowds' behavior next weekend when the boom camera sweeps over the stands during a timeout. 

And I say this as someone who was quite excited to have my earthly existence confirmed by being on camera for an entire Saturday morning minute during a commercial break in the western movie on the local "Buckskin Billy Show" in 1952. My parents said I looked good, even in black and white.

Many years later, in living color, during a commercial on "The Today Show," I asked Bryant Gumbel how many people were watching me hawking my new book. And he said, "About nine million."

I grasped TV's appeal after that.

This week's audio commentary examines the point of these raucous political gatherings. I mean, Democrats didn't even officially nominate their presidential ticket this week; they merely ratified it — for appearances and the cameras. Official voting was actually done electronically and remotely beforehand. 

Convention delegates even have to pay their own way. I know; I was one 12 years ago.

In this week's audio commentary, I suggest that, thanks to TV, the real purpose of party conventions these days has become empty entertainment in primetime. 

The first convention I ever watched was the first one anyone could watch.