HOLLYWOOD – Hermey, 63, who won an Emmy Award for playing a nerdy misfit elf who wanted to be a dentist in the Rankin/Bass stop-motion animation classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,  has landed his first regular TV gig in more than a decade. He’ll co-star opposite Kirstie Alley and Rhea Perlman in the TV Land pilot Giant Baby, according to Variety.

Hermey’s career was derailed in 2006 when he shouted the N-word at black hecklers in a racially-charged meltdown at Hollywood’s Laugh Factory.  Hermey made a public apology via satellite on the Late Show with David Letterman, with Rudolph vouching for his character.