Peter Scolari earns guest actor Emmy nomination, replacing Peter MacNicol
“Girls” cast member Peter Scolari has earned an Emmy nomination for guest actor in a comedy series, replacing Peter MacNicol, who was ruled ineligible Wednesday because he had appeared in too many episodes to qualify.
Scolari plays Tad Horvath, father of Hannah (Lena Dunham). The character came out as gay in the show’s fourth season finale and his continuing evolution became one of the more interesting story lines in the series’ fifth season.
It is the veteran actor’s fourth Emmy nomination. Scolari earned three nods from 1987 to 1989 for his work on the CBS comedy “Newhart.”
The comedy guest actor category’s other nominees include Bob Newhart, a past winner for “The Big Bang Theory”; Tracy Morgan and Larry David for hosting “Saturday Night Live”; Bradley Whitford for “Transparent”; and Martin Mull for “Veep.”
Scolari’s late addition was the only Emmy nomination for “Girls,” keeping Dunham’s HBO comedy in the conversation for the fifth straight year. The show had previously been nominated for best comedy series in 2012 and 2013 and Dunham, Adam Driver and Gaby Hoffman have earned nominations for acting over the run of the series.
MacNicol was ruled ineligible after it was discovered that he had appeared in five of “Veep’s” 10 episodes this season.
The television academy changed the qualifications for the guest acting categories last year, stipulating that performers must appear in less than 50% of a series’ episodes.
When HBO submitted MacNicol in May, the network believed he would appear in four of the Emmy-winning comedy’s 10 episodes. But he was briefly seen in the show’s ninth episode, “Kissing Your Sister,” a self-contained half-hour shot in mock-documentary form.
