Emmys to withdraw nomination for Peter MacNicol

The Emmy Awards will withdraw a nomination for actor Peter MacNicol after learning he is ineligible for Guest Actor in a Comedy.

MacNicol was nominated for his performance in HBO comedy Veep, which screens in Australia on Showcase. At the time his submission was put forward he appeared in 4 of 10 episodes.

The TV Academy told Hollywood Reporter: “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.”

Sadly for MacNicol, he is seen in roughly 10 seconds of the season’s ninth episode, “Kiss Your Sister,” which includes “documentary footage” that Selena Meyer’s daughter, Catherine, had been seen filming throughout the season. Harsh!

HBO said, “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 would appear in only four episodes.”

The same thing happened to Dennis Miller in 1995 and Henry Winkler in 2000.

A new nominee for Guest Actor in a Comedy Series will be announced shortly.