It's very strange that Katherine Heigl's name is not on the TV academy's list of Emmy contenders after she won best supporting actress last year for "Grey's Anatomy." Over the past few months, as Emmy campaign season began, Katherine Heigl didn't announce that she'd be bowing out. Her omission from the official ballot just happened to be noticed yesterday by one of our forum posters. So we asked Heigl: Whazzup?

"I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination and in an effort to maintain the integrity of the academy organization, I withdrew my name from contention," she tells Gold Derby. "In addition, I did not want to potentially take away an opportunity from an actress who was given such materials."

It's not uncommon for past winners to withdraw from Emmy consideration, but they usually do so because they're repeating champs who feel they've won enough and want to give others a shot. That's what Candice Bergen ("Murphy Brown") and Bill Cosby ("The Cosby Show, "The Bill Cosby Show," "I Spy") did.

But Heigl's only won once, and it was a jaw-dropping victory at that. She was so stunned to hear her name announced when the envelope was opened that she got caught on national TV gasping a profanity. Apparently, that's the same word she might use to describe what she thinks of the reduced story line she got on "Grey's Anatomy" this past season despite proving her dramatic chops at the last Emmys. Clearly, she believes she was gypped out of a juicy role in order to publicly declare that she wasn't "given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination." One of the few dramatic turns she had on the show this past season involved rescuing a deer that had caused a string of car accidents. Big deal. She didn't even get to rescue a human being.

Initially, when we spotted Heigl missing from the ballot, I wondered if she had just forgotten to submit her name for consideration. That happens quite often, but few stars admit it. One who did so, famously, was Tim Allen ("Home Improvement"), who staged an elaborate stunt back in the 1990s after confessing that he forgot to submit his nomination the previous year. The next year he had his paperwork delivered to the TV academy headquarters in North Hollywood by the University of Southern California marching band.

Hey, we're talking Hollyweird here. All sneaky angles must be explored.

I asked the posters in our message boards what they think. Some responses below. See more: CLICK HERE .

Neurotic21: "This was not Heigl's season and she didn't quite have the material to back up a potential Emmy nod. Honestly, I think that was nice of her to do because she would have made the Top 10 (run-off). The door is now open for another actress, who may have had that great season, to get into that 10."

venom9176: "This is a pointed slam at the material she was given this season; there is going to be far more fallout from this than from pinning the blame on her publicist or agent or whoever was supposed to submit her. If she was going to lie to spare their feelings, she almost certainly wouldn't use this as a reason."

Michael Kennedy: "I think she is noble for doing it but I also agree that this is a slam at the show/writers/material given. She is not so innocent here -- had she felt someone else deserved a chance she should have said that and left it alone. She made a point to say it was material, what other reason would she say that for other than a slam? Remember this is the girl that made bad remarks about 'Knocked Up' after it was released and made her a movie star!"

(Photo: ATAS)