Wells, a moderate, to again seek WGA presidency

John Wells, the writer-producer behind "Southland" and the hits "ER" and "West Wing," may have a second act at the Writers Guild of America.

The nominating committee of the Writers Guild of America, West on Monday announced that Wells (pictured) was one of two candidates qualified to run as president of the union in board elections this fall.

Wells, who keeps an office on the Warner Bros. lot, known as a moderate whom some writers criticize as being too cozy with the studios, was president of the guild from 1999 to 2001. He will run against Elias Davis, who is currently the union's treasurer and a supporter of outgoing president Patric Verrone, who is finishing his second term and cannot run for a third because of term limits.

Verrone led the union during a 100-day strike that shut down TV production last year. Although Wells supported the strike, he was among a group of high-profile writer-producers who helped pave the way for a settlement.

There are 16 candidates nominated to run for eight open seats on the guild's board of directors. Votes will be tallied Sept. 18.

-- Richard Verrier

Photo: Jill Connelly/

'Burn Notice' at Comic-Con: Sam Axe heading to San Diego

Could the San Diego Comic-Con TV lineup get any better? Well, it just did.

Mikkel Bondesen, one of the USA show's executive producers, announced on his Twitter feed Sunday that "Burn Notice" will be doing a panel at the annual pop-culture extravaganza. According to Bondesen, the panel will feature Bruce Campbell (right), who plays the generally awesome Sam Axe, and "all the writers."

That includes creator Matt Nix, and it would be excellent if, during the panel, he could make a satellite dish or a remote detonator out of three paper clips, a shoelace and used gum. No pressure, but the assembled Comic-Con nerds will expect nothing less.

Special shoutout to "Burn Notice" fan Patti Wells for pointing out Bondesen's tweets to me. UPDATE: USA Network has confirmed the panel, but has not yet confirmed the date. However the network says that Campbell and Nix will definitely be on the "Burn Notice" panel.

Speaking of Comic-Con panels, the "Heroes" gyrations continue. On June 11, I reported that there will be no "Heroes" panel at Comic-Con, an announcement that prompted some head-scratching and annoyed reactions from fans of the show. Late last week, however, the Watch With Kristin team reported that now a "small" panel for the NBC show, featuring creator Tim Kring and some members of the show's cast, will take place.

For more coverage of what's coming to Comic-Con this year, check out these Watcher stories from the past couple of weeks. Seat42f and Watch With Kristen also have very helpful roundups of what shows will be there.

If you aren't going to Comic-Con, never fear: Closer to July 23, which is when the four-day convention begins, I'll hook you up with a list of folks who will be there and if you follow my stories, their blog posts and all of our Twitter feeds, you'll feel like you are there. But you'll be able to enjoy the crazed event without the hassle of waiting in endless lines or having some dude in a cardboard "300" costume step on your foot and/or block your access to the Lego "Star Wars" merchandise booth.

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