Oops! Neil Patrick Harris a Last-Minute Emmy Nominee

TV Academy corrects an oversight, adding Tonys host in category where he should have been nominated

What does it take for an awards-show vet to get some respect around here?

Neil Patrick Harris, a man so ubiquitous at awards shows that he opened this year's Oscars (below) even though he wasn’t hosting and isn’t a movie star, should have been nominated for an Emmy this year for hosting the 2009 Tony Awards. But the Tonys (for which he won rave reviews) forgot to submit his name to the Emmys (which he also hosted, a few months later), so Harris' name was nowhere to be found on the list of nominees.

The error has now been corrected, after a fuss was raised over at the Envelope.

Neil Patrick HarrisAwards-show hosts used to compete in a different category, but are now honored alongside the show’s producers when a program wins or is nominated for an Emmy. But Chris Beachum, the moderator of the Gold Derby forums at the Envelope, noticed that Harris was left off the list of nominees for the Tonys; when Gold Derby’s Tom O’Neil brought it to the attention of the Emmy organizers, they said that Harris’ name was not submitted for consideration by the Tonys.

O’Neil says he “bugged” reps for the Tonys and for Harris for comment, and that his nudging “apparently trigged some action behind the scenes.” 

Harris has now been added to the ballot, and is an official Emmy nominee. It’s his sixth nomination, and his third this year; the other two are for Outstanding Supporting Actor for “How I Met Your Mother,” and Outstanding Guest Actor for “Glee.”

He has yet to win.

(Photo by Michael Yada/AMPAS)

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