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On July 14, 2016, Peter MacNicol (who plays Jeff Kane) was Emmy-nominated in the outstanding guest actor in a comedy series category for his role on Veep. However, less than a week later, a Hollywood Reporter article reported that his nomination was rescinded when the Academy of Television and Arts and Sciences, the body that awards the Emmys, determined that MacNicol had appeared on too many episodes in one season (5 out of a total of 10) to be considered eligible as a guest. The Academy's qualification for "guest" status rests on having appeared in fewer than 50% of a season's total episodes. The statement from the Academy to the Hollywood Reporter read: "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. 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. Unfortunately, that additional appearance places him in 50% of the season's episodes and makes him no longer eligible to compete in the guest actor category. This decision is in no way a diminishment of Mr. MacNicol's stellar performance on this season of Veep. A new nominee for Guest Actor in a Comedy Series will be announced shortly." That fifth episode was Kissing Your Sister (2016), in which MacNichol appeared for about ten seconds. The Academy also specified that the new nominee would be the actor who originally won the next-highest number of votes without actually being nominated. That actor turned out to be Peter Scolari, who was nominated for his guest role on Girls (2012). On September 10, 2016, Peter Scolari actually won that Emmy.
Every scene was rehearsed with the actors improvising things to make it funnier if possible. This whole process was observed by the writers, who took notes of the improvisations they felt worked and incorporated them into the shooting scripts.
During her acceptance speech during The 65th Primetime Emmy Awards (2013) Julia Louis-Dreyfus was accompanied on stage by Tony Hale. When they stood on stage together as Louis-Dreyfus gave her speech, Hale pretended to feed her lines, just as he does on the show, playing her obsequious personal assistant.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus offered British actress Sally Phillips a recurring guest part as the Finnish Prime Minister, as she is a big fan of Phillips' sketch show Smack the Pony (1999).
Armando Iannucci created the character of Tom James for Hugh Laurie after learning he was a fan of the show.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus suggested using the twitch of the eye she knew how to do for comedic purposes whenever the writers thought it could work.