This 'Veep' favorite is coming back, and has another shot at an Emmy
The celebration around "Veep's" huge Emmy nominati0n haul for season five was dampened earlier this month when MacNicol's nom was revoked by the Television Academy.
Nominated for guest actor for playing Jonah's (Timothy Simons) short-tempered uncle, Jeff Kane, MacNicol was disqualified from the category because he appeared on 5 of the season's 10 episodes. According to the award rules, eligible guest actors can only appear on fewer than half of the season's episodes.
MacNicol's diqualifcation didn't sit well with "Veep" showrunner David Mandel.
"That was just sad," he recently told Business Insider while promoting the release of the HBO comedy's season-five digital HD release.
"Peter MacNicol was so good as Uncle Jeff," Mandel continued. "We thought we may be bringing him in for one episode, maybe two. And in a weird way, he was a victim of our love with him. We just kept adding him to stuff, then I guess the application process was before we were done editing shows. They didn't necessarily check it. We didn't check it. It made me sick to my stomach."
Mandel told Business Insider that McNicol's disqualifation from the Emmy category doesn't erase the actor's achievement on this past season of "Veep." And it also doesn't mean that Mandel can't bring him back for another stab at TV's big prize.
"It sucks that he doesn't have the nomination," the producer said. "Hopefully, I take solace in the fact that people loved him enough to nominate him, despite how many episodes he's in. And I look forward to bringing him back next season in less than five episodes to make sure he has a shot at it next year."
"Girls" guest star Peter Scolari ultimately replaced MacNicol in the Emmy competition. MacNicol previously won an Emmy in 2001 for "Ally McBeal," and has been nominated for the award four times.