HBO’s “Veep” is one of the most popular shows on television right now. Earlier this month, the show received nine nomination for the 2016 Emmy Awards. That number however is now down to eight.
Peter MacNicol, who plays Jeff Kane in the comedy, received a guest acting nominee earlier this month for his time on Veep. However, he has now appeared in more than half of Veeps‘ season five episodes, thus disqualifying him from being on the ballot for “Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.”
The Hollywood Reporter reported the news and said a replacement nominee will be named soon. The replacement is simply the actor who received the most votes without securing a nomination.
The Academy rules state in order to be considered for a guest acting Emmy, the actor/actress must be in less than 50% of the most recent season’s episodes. MacNicol appeared in five of Veep‘s 10 season five episodes, thus making him ineligible for the award.
“Upon review of the Guest Actor in a Comedy Series category, the Television Academy has determined that Peter MacNicol unfortunately exceeds the number of episodes permissible for inclusion in that category. HBO’s guest actor entry for Peter MacNicol was accurate at the time of the submission deadline, but he was subsequently included in an additional Veep episode. Unfortunately, that additional appearance places him in 50% of the season’s episodes and makes him no longer eligible to compete in the guest actor category. This decision is in no way a diminishment of Mr. MacNicol’s stellar performance on this season of Veep. A new nominee for Guest Actor in a Comedy Series will be announced shortly,” the Academy said.
This isn’t the first time this has happened either. Dennis Miller in 1995 and Henry Winkler in 2000 also dealt with being disqualified after being nominated.
It’s entirely possible this was a mistake going back to when Emmy submissions began for the 2016 Emmy Awards. The fifth season of Veep premiered in late April and ran through the end of June. However, it was still in production when Emmy submissions had to be made on May 2nd.
“At the time of the May 2nd entry deadline, the late-airing episodes of Veep and, therefore, their credits, did not yet exist. The information we received from the production was that Peter MacNicol was eligible as a guest star (because he’d only appeared in four episodes to that point),” HBO told The Hollywood Reporter.
To make matters worse, MacNicol appeared in his fifth episode, the show’s ninth of the season, for roughly 10 seconds, thus causing him to be ineligible.
[The Hollywood Reporter/Photo: HBO]
