2016 Emmys: Nominee Peter MacNicol (Veep) Disqualified as Guest Actor

[divider style=”solid” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
After Veep‘s Peter MacNicol was nominated for Guest Actor in a Comedy Series last week, the awards predicting circles began bubbling with the fact that his nomination went against the new “less than 50%” rule the Television Academy instituted last year. Meaning, for someone to qualify for Guest submission they could only appear in less than 50% of a series’ total eligible episodes in a season. Veep ran 10 episodes in its fifth season of which MacNicol appeared in five.
The Television Academy issued a statement that said: “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.”
This isn’t the first time mistakes like this have happened. Just this year, Jason Sudekis was entered as Guest for his role as Will Forte’s brother on The Last Man on Earth but since he appeared in 11 0f 18 episodes, he was disqualified during the nomination process. The only occurrence of a nomination being revoked was in 2000 when Henry Winkler was nominated in Guest Actor in a Comedy for Battery Park. His episode didn’t air during the eligibility period and his nomination was rescinded and subsequently went to William H. Macy in Sports Night.
A replacement will be announced as soon as tomorrow.
- Association of Motion Picture Sound (AMPS) Television and Nonfiction Nominations Announced: ‘Adolescence,’ ‘Black Mirror,’ ‘Slow Horses’ and More - March 20, 2026
- Trailer Watch: ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day,’ ‘Dune: Part Three,’ Disclosure Day,’ ‘Wild Horse Nine’ - March 20, 2026
- Six Join 51st Residence of the Festival de Cannes, including Harry Lighton, Mansi Maheshwari, Oliver McGoldrick - March 20, 2026

Director Watch Podcast Ep. 144 – ‘A Matter of Life and Death (Powell and Pressburger, 1946) with Special Guest Jesse Nussman
Association of Motion Picture Sound (AMPS) Television and Nonfiction Nominations Announced: ‘Adolescence,’ ‘Black Mirror,’ ‘Slow Horses’ and More
Trailer Watch: ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day,’ ‘Dune: Part Three,’ Disclosure Day,’ ‘Wild Horse Nine’
‘Anima’ Review: Sydney Chandler and Takehiro Hira Ground Brian Tetsuro Ivie’s Low-Fi Sci-Fi Road Movie [B+] SXSW