Julia Louis-Dreyfus has already won Lead Actress in a Comedy Series four consecutive times for Veep. Can she make it five? (Getty)
Veep is the hilarious HBO comedy that stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Selina Meyer and her completely incompetent staff as they try to survive Washington politics. The show won Outstanding Comedy Series for the second consecutive year at the Emmys.
Season five took a drastic departure from the show, as Meyer and her team struggled to keep control of the White House after the election ended in a tie during the season four finale. It was also the first season without creator Armando Iannucci as showrunner.
Still, the show earned critical acclaim and was clearly favored by the TV Academy, which picks the Emmy winners. The show earned 16 Emmy nominations, so let’s take a look at Veep‘s chances at the Emmys.
1. ‘Veep’ Has Won 1 Emmy for 2016 Before Sunday’s Ceremony
Julia Louis-Dreyfus at the 2016 Time 100 Gala. (Getty)
Veep has already won an Emmy this year, thanks to the Creative Arts Emmys, which were held on September 10 and 11. Allison Jones and Ben Harris picked up the Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series award. It was Jones’ third consecutive win in the category for Veep and Harris’ first.
The show was not as lucky in other categories last weekend. Martin Mull was nominated for Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, but lost to Girls‘ Peter Scolari. The show also had two nominations for Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series; and nominations for Sound Mixing in a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour and Animation) and Production Design for a Narrative Program (Half-Hour or Less).
With the casting win, the show enters the ceremony on September 18 with 22 Emmy wins.
2. Peter MacNicol Lost His Guest Actor Nomination on a Technicality
One actor who will not be too happy at the Emmys if he goes is Peter MacNicol. The Emmy winner for Ally McBeal had earned his first Emmy nod since 2001 for playing Jeff Kane, Jonah’s New Hampshire campaign adviser and uncle. However, he was replaced by Scolari on the final ballot.
The TV Academy issued a statement that a guest actor can only appear in exactly half of the episodes of a show’s season. Veep‘s fifth season ran 10 episodes, so MacNicol could only appear in five of them to qualify. Unfortunately, after the submission deadline passed, MacNicol made a brief appearance in a sixth episode, thereby disqualifying him from the Emmy.
Even though he only made the briefest of appearances in Episode 9, the nomination was still revoked.
By the way, Scolari’s nomination ended up being Girls‘ only nomination at the 2016 Emmys.
3. Julia Louis-Dreyfus Broke a Three-Way Tie With Candice Bergen and Mary Tyler Moore With a Sixth Emmy Win
Now that Julia Louis-Dreyfus has won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for the fifth consecutive year for Veep, she has broken a three-way tie with TV legends Mary Tyler Moore and Candice Bergen. Moore and Bergen have five Emmys each.
Louis-Dreyfus won her first Lead Actress in a Comedy Emmy for The New Adventures of Old Christine in 2006. She also won an Emmy in 1996 for Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Seinfeld.
As an executive producer on Veep, she also won a second Emmy in 2015 when the show finally won Outstanding Comedy Series.
Louis-Dreyfus has 22 Emmy nominations and seven wins combined heading into Sunday.
4. Tony Hale Is the Only Other Actor on the Show to Earn an Emmy Win
Tony Hale has already won two Emmys for Veep. (Getty)
While no one on the show itself appreciates Gary Walsh, the TV Academy does. Tony Hale is the only other actor aside from Louis-Dreyfus to win an Emmy for the show. He won Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2013 and 2015.
This year, he will have to beat Matt Walsh, who finally earned his first nomination for Veep.
Anna Chlumsky was once again nominated for Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, as she has every year since 2013. One cool fact about Chlumsky: She starred in In The Loop, Iannucci’s film follow-up to The Thick of It, playing a very similar role to the one she has on Veep.
5. Every Season of ‘Veep’ Has Been Nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series & It Finally Won Last Year
The cast of Veep celebrates the show’s victory at the 67th Annual Primetime Emmys. (Getty)
All five seasons of Veep have been nominated for the Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy. Its fourth season finally won the award after years of coming in behind Modern Family. Last year was the first time since 2009 – the year before Modern Family began – that the hit ABC series lost the award.
The show also has a really good chance of winning Directing for a Comedy Series, as three different directors are up for the award. David Mandel is up for “Kissing Your Sister,” while Chris Addison is up for “Morning After.” Dale Stern was nominated for “Mother.”
Mandel was also nominated for writing “Morning After,” as were Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck for writing “Mother.”
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‘VEEP’ at the Emmys: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know