AceShowbiz -

Peter MacNicol, who received an Emmy nomination for Guest Actor in a Comedy earlier this month, has been pulled out of the race. On Wednesday, July 20, the Academy of Television and Arts and Sciences disqualified the actor.

MacNicol, who had previously had three Emmy nominations, is deemed ineligible for the guest actor category since he appeared as Jeff Kane in five episodes of the ten-episode "Veep" season 5. Per Emmy rules, "Only performers appearing in less that 50|percent| of the eligible episodes are able to submit in the Guest Performer categories."

"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," the Academy said in a statement. "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," it's explained.

HBO also explained the mistake to THR, "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 network added, "We are very sorry that Peter's brilliant performance will not be recognized."

A new nominee for Guest Actor in Comedy will be announced imminently. The other nominees are Bob Newhart ("The Big Bang Theory"), Tracy Morgan ("Saturday Night Live"), Larry David ("Saturday Night Live"), Badley Whitford ("Transparent") and Martin Mull ("Veep").

The 68th annual Primetime Emmy Awards will be held at the Microsoft Theater in Downtown Los Angeles on September 18 with Jimmy Kimmel as the host.