As you may recall, three years ago Peter MacNicol earned an Emmy nomination in Best Comedy Guest Actor that was later rescinded after Gold Derby discovered that the “Veep” actor was actually ineligible due to appearing in too many episodes. MacNicol was replaced by Peter Scolari (“Girls”) on the Emmy ballot, who against all odds wound up winning. Flash-forward to this year and MacNicol is now a front-runner to prevail for his role as political strategist Jeff Kane, screeching uncle of Jonah Ryan (Timothy Simons), according to our Experts from major media outlets.
We know what you’re thinking: is MacNicol really, truly eligible this year?! The answer is yes. This former Emmy winner for “Ally McBeal” (2001) appeared in three out of seven “Veep” episodes for its final season on HBO, or roughly 43%. Since Emmy rules dictate that actors can only be nominated in the guest categories if they appear in less than 50% of the episodes, then MacNicol’s eligibility is without question.
Guest stars must designate their episode submission prior to nominations, which means we already know that MacNicol has entered “Oslo” for Emmy voters to consider. This is the show’s penultimate episode and features MacNicol at his foul-mouthed best as he (once again) eviscerates Jonah to the pleasure of viewers everywhere. Per the Emmy ballot: “Jonah’s uncle, Jeff Kane, attends the funeral of Jonah’s father and uses this somber affair as an opportunity to tear into his nephew. In addition to his usual insults, Jeff gleefully blames Jonah for his dad’s death in his fiercest verbal takedown of Jonah yet.”
Will MacNicol reap sweet revenge this year to make up for that Emmy fiasco of 2016? Eleven of our 20 Emmy Experts say yes: Thelma Adams (Gold Derby), Jen Chaney (Vulture), Debbie Day (Rotten Tomatoes), Eric Deggans (NPR), Lynn Elber (Associated Press), Chris Harnick (E!), Matt Roush (TV Guide Magazine), Kaitlin Thomas (TVGuide.com), Ben Travers (Indiewire), Peter Travers (Rolling Stone) and Susan Wloszczyna (Gold Derby). That results in leading 4/1 racetrack odds for MacNicol.
As for the other nine Experts, here’s how their predictions fall:
*Joyce Eng (Gold Derby), Ed Martin (Media Village), Tom O’Neil (Gold Derby), Ken Tucker (Yahoo) and Glenn Whipp (LA Times) all opt for John Mulaney (“Saturday Night Live”)
*Mary Murphy (Gold Derby) and Stacey Wilson Hunt (Gold Derby) both foresee a victory for Adam Sandler (“Saturday Night Live”)
*Kelly Lawler (USA Today) chooses Lin-Manuel Miranda (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”)
*Robert Rorke (New York Post) picks Luke Kirby (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”)
PREDICT the Emmys now; change them until July 16
Be sure to make your 2019 Emmy predictions today so that Hollywood insiders can see how their TV shows and performers are faring in our odds. You can keep changing your predictions as often as you like until just before nominations are announced on July 16. And join in the fun debate over the 2019 Emmy taking place right now with Hollywood insiders in our television forums. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.
SIGN UP for Gold Derby’s newsletter with experts’ latest predictions
