Heidi Klum panned for her role in the Emmy awards

The 60th annual Emmy Awards, which were held last night at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, have been condemned by the American press as being the worst media occasion in living history. It wasn't that the prizes went to the wrong people – far from it – it was down to the presenters who had been chosen to hand out the gongs, a line-up that boasted reality TV hosts Tom Bergeron and Ryan Seacrest, gameshow presenter Jeff Probst, comic Howie Mandel and the German model Heidi Klum (pictured with William Shatner and Bergeron).

After an introduction from Oprah Winfrey, Klum and her co-presenters tumbled out on stage in matching suits and ties. Their chaotic appearance set the tone for the night as it became apparent that they had decided to do the show without the aid of scripts. "This is not a bit, this is reality," Mandel insisted. "We are on, like, Sarah Palin's bridge to nowhere. The government can't bail us out of this."

This and other inanities went down badly with USA Today, which branded the improvised gags idea an unmitigated failure. "The awards themselves ricocheted from the inspired to the insane…. It was hideously awful from start to harried finish, dragged down by five amateurish reality anchors who would have been unwelcome as guests, let alone hosts. Why, in a year when so much good work was done by writers and actors, would Emmy turn itself over to five performers from unscripted TV. I'd say they drove the show to a new low."

But the nadir, according to one critic, was when William Shatner (of Star Trek fame) was invited up onto the stage to do "the one dumb thing they had planned" - tearing Klum's suit off to reveal a shorter sparkly outfit. Even that failed to lift the spirits of the audience.

However, the decisions of the judges won praise. 30 Rock swept the comedy categories, with Alec Baldwin winning best comedy actor and Tina Fey taking best comedy actress as well as the award for best comedy writing. Mad Men, the stylish series about advertising in the 1960s, came into the Emmys with the most nominations for a series, winning the best drama and best writing for its creator Matthew Weiner.

Tom Wilkinson and Dame Eileen Atkins were among the British names honoured. Wilkinson won best supporting actor in a mini-series for his portrayal of Benjamin Franklin in the presidential drama, John Adams, and Atkins took best supporting actress for her role in the costume drama Cranford. Luckily for them, neither attended the ceremony.