Emmy Awards: The political tone has ruined the show

For all those who thought award shows were already ridiculous, the age of Donald Trump has also made them irrelevant.

Let's face it - even in the infuriating universe of self-congratulatory awards shows, the Emmys have always been the worst.

From the record-breaking sweep of Modern Family four years in a row, to the untimely recognition of great shows like The Sopranos or Mad Men, the Primetime Emmy Awards have always managed to misfire.

The Sopranos' first win for outstanding drama series was five years after the first episode aired, David Simon's The Wire never won an Emmy and yet the most awarded show of all time is Game Of Thrones.

So how has the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS) managed to overlook such pivotal, ground-breaking shows in the first years of TV's golden age, only to be swept away by fire-breathing dragons a few years after?

The reason, is the change to its voting system in 2015 - the year when GoT won in 12 categories.

:: A look back at the Emmy Awards

Before that, Emmy winners were determined by a small group of ATAS volunteers who made up so-called "blue-ribbon panels".

These could be as small as a dozen voters for each category - trying to represent the will of around 19,000 members.

This meant an award could be attributed with the grand total of 12 votes.

And, because seniority applies to exclusive panels, voting tended to be conservative and not recognise new talent.

That explains how the same shows managed to sweep nearly every award for years in a row - The West Wing, Modern Family and Mad Men are good examples.

In 2015, the voting was extended, meaning "all voters eligible to vote in a category's nominating round" were now "eligible to vote in that category's final round".

This opened up the doors to new shows like Game Of Thrones, but hasn't really bettered the ceremony itself.

:: Emmys 2017: Sean Spicer and an unexpected kiss

On Sunday, under the tutelage of host Stephen Colbert, the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards seemed more worried about aiming jokes at easy-target Donald Trump then celebrating artistic achievement.

Colbert set the political tone from the start, with an opening monologue centred on the President.

"Unlike the presidency, Emmys go to the winner of the popular vote." - Yawn.

Then Sean Spicer came in and made a little joke. Double yawn. Hollywood laughs - I don't.

And after that it just got more and more political, from one-liners about Ted Cruz to dull political speeches from every single winner.

The Handmaid's Tale and Black Mirror won because they imagined a future where we are supposedly heading for.

Big Little Lies scooping five awards was a victory because it "shines a light on domestic abuse" - not because it is well directed or written.

Donald Glover's celebrated show Atlanta brought him on stage, just so he could take another boring shot at Donald Trump.

Lately, we've grown accustomed to every single award show being about the US President.

What was once used as a platform for radical speeches by industry mavericks has become a dull platform for political commonplaces.

The result: viewership numbers are at an all-time low.

Last year, 11.3 million people tuned in for the Emmys. In 2013, it was 17 million.

Keep up the good work, and soon enough awards shows will become ceremonies for Hollywood by Hollywood.

Aren't they already?