Remember when a new television season started in September? Not this year.

Looking forward to big-budget blockbusters coming to a theater near you next summer? Maybe not.

You've always heard great things about "Breaking Bad" or "The Wire" but you never got around to watching it? Now's your chance.

And it might be a while before you know how many Emmys your favorite show eventually takes home. The awards show, as with much in the TV and movie industry, is also very much uncertain right now.

But what you can count on is more reality shows, and maybe game shows, and probably more opportunities to binge shows that have already been on.

That's because about 160,000 actors who belong to SAG-AFTRA are about to go on strike, joining more than 11,000 members of the Writers Guild of America who have been on strike since May 2.

Prepping for the long-haul

Some movies are already complete, of course, like "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer," and set to hit theaters.

But any pipeline of new shows is already slowing to a trickle.

Data from film permits in California indicates that production of most shows and movies already has been halted by the writers' strike. Even though movies typically have a script in hand when they start shooting, revisions and changes mean a writer is usually needed while production proceeds.

Now with actors also going on strike, most remaining production will stop. The exception will be independent movies that are not associated with one of the major studios.

One group of television shows that will continue to produce new episodes is the traditional daytime soap operas. The writers of those shows are typically nonunion, and the unionized actors work under a different contract than the one that expired at 11:59 p.m. PDT on Wednesday.

But most other actors will stop working as soon as the union's government board votes to go on strike later Thursday. Rank-and-file members have already voted 98% in favor of authorizing a strike.

Actors will not be doing publicity for movies that are being released, including appearing on the red carpet at movie premieres or doing interviews on podcasts. Of course, the writers' strike brought an immediate halt to new episodes of U.S. late night shows, so the opportunity to do that sort of publicity was already limited.

How long will it last?

What isn't clear is how long this will continue. There are hopes in the industry that since writers and actors are out at the same time, that will put pressure on the studios to improve their offers and get everyone back to work sooner rather than later. The last time the writers and the Screen Actors Guild, the precursor of SAG-AFTRA, were on strike at the same time was 1960 — so long ago that Ronald Reagan was the SAG president leading that strike.

But everyone agrees the industry is going through unprecedented change as the ways that the public consumes shows are changing rapidly, and the economics are changing with it.

Disney CEO Bob Iger didn't seem to suggest there will be a solution in the near term, in comments Thursday morning.

Video below: Hear from SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher

"They are adding to a set of challenges this business is already facing that is quite frankly very disruptive," said Iger, who is set to receive more than $25 million in compensation this year, about SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild in an interview on CNBC. "You have to be realistic about the business environment and what this business can deliver."

But the unions say their members are suffering because of the changes in the business, like the shrinking amount of broadcast residuals in the age of streaming, and they've been pushed to the point where they can't accept what the studios are offering.

"The studios and streamers have implemented massive unilateral changes in our industry's business model, while at the same time insisting on keeping our contracts frozen in amber," said a statement from Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the union's chief negotiator, issued early Thursday morning. "The studios and streamers have underestimated our members' resolve, as they are about to fully discover."

So don't expect to see the return of many of your favorite shows any time soon.

LOS ANGELES —

Unionized Hollywood actors on the verge of a strike have agreed to allow a last-minute intervention from federal mediators but say they doubt a deal will be reached by a negotiation deadline late Wednesday.

"We are committed to the negotiating process and will explore and exhaust every possible opportunity to make a deal, however we are not confident that the employers have any intention of bargaining toward an agreement," the Screen Actors Guild -American Federation of Radio and Television Artists said in a statement Tuesday night.

Video above: A Writers Guild of America member weighs in on the possibility of an actor's strike

The actors could join the already striking Writers Guild of America and grind the already slowed production process to a halt if no agreement is reached with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The sides agreed to an extension before the original contract expiration date on June 30, resetting it to Wednesday at 11:59 p.m.

Growing pessimism surrounding the talks seemed to turn to open hostility when SAG-AFTRA released a statement Tuesday night.

It came in response to a report in Variety that a group of Hollywood CEOs had been the force behind the request for mediation, which the union said was leaked before its negotiators were informed of the request.

The AMPTP declined comment through a representative. It's not clear whether federal mediators have agreed to take part, but such an intervention would presumably require more time than the hours left on the contract.

"The AMPTP has abused our trust and damaged the respect we have for them in this process," the SAG-AFTRA statement said. "We will not be manipulated by this cynical ploy to engineer an extension when the companies have had more than enough time to make a fair deal."

Issues on the table in the talks include residual pay and the threat of unregulated use of artificial intelligence.

The Los Angeles Unified School District and union leaders said Friday they reached a deal on a new contract for workers after a strike that shut down the nation’s second-largest school system for three days.The agreement includes a pay raise for workers such as bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria workers, special education assistants and other support staff. Union leaders from Local 99 of the Service Employees International Union say that will raise the average pay for those workers significantly.The deal must still be voted on by the full union.The roughly 30,000 workers represented by the union walked off the job from Tuesday to Thursday amid stalled contract talks. Classes resumed Friday.District superintendent Alberto Carvalho, SEIU Local 99 Executive Director Max Arias and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced the deal together.Members of United Teachers Los Angeles, the union representing 35,000 educators, counselors and other staff, joined the picket lines in solidarity.

The first Hollywood strike in 15 years began Tuesday as the economic pressures of the streaming era prompted unionized TV and film writers to picket for better pay outside major studios, a work stoppage that already is leading most late-night shows to air reruns.

“No contracts, no content!” sign-carrying members of the Writers Guild of America chanted outside the Manhattan building where NBCUniversal was touting its Peacock streaming service to advertisers.

Related video above: 'Clarified,' Will there be another Hollywood writers strike?

Some 11,500 film and television writers represented by the union put down their pens and laptops after failing to reach a new contract with the trade association that represents Hollywood studios and production companies.

The union is seeking higher minimum pay, more writers per show and shorter exclusive contracts, among other demands — all conditions it says have been diminished in the content boom driven by streaming.

“There’s too much work and not enough pay,” said demonstrator Sean Crespo, a 46-year-old writer whose credits include the former TBS show “Full Frontal With Samantha Bee.”

The labor dispute could have a cascading effect on TV and film productions depending on how long the strike lasts, and it comes as streaming services are under growing pressure from Wall Street to show profits.

Late-night television was the first to feel the fallout, just as it was during the 2007 writers strike that lasted for 100 days.

All of the top late-night shows, which are staffed by writers that pen monologues and jokes for their hosts, immediately went dark. NBC’s “The Tonight Show,” Comedy Central’s “Daily Show,” ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live,” CBS’s “The Late Show” and NBC’s “Late Night” all made plans for reruns through the week.

NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” which had been scheduled to air a new episode Saturday, will also go dark and air reruns instead.

“Everyone including myself hope both sides reach a deal. But I also think that the writers’ demands are not unreasonable,” host Stephen Colbert said on Monday's “Late Show.”

“This nation owes so much to unions," Colbert said. "Unions are the reason we have weekends, and by extension why we have TGI Fridays.”

Playwright Tony Kushner (“The Fabelmans”) and “Dopesick” creator Danny Strong were among those demonstrating in New York on Tuesday.

The strike's impact on scripted series and films will take longer to notice. If a strike persisted through the summer, fall TV schedules could be upended. In the meantime, those with finished scripts are permitted to continue shooting.

During the 2007 strike, late-night hosts eventually returned to air and improvised their way through shows. “Tonight” show host Jay Leno angered WGA leadership when he began writing his own monologues.

One late-night show won't go dark. Fox News' “Gutfeld!” with Greg Gutfeld will continue airing new episodes, Fox said Tuesday.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios and productions companies, said it presented an offer with “generous increases in compensation for writers as well as improvements in streaming residuals.”

The trade association said in a statement that it was prepared to improve its offer “but was unwilling to do so because of the magnitude of other proposals still on the table that the guild continues to insist upon."

A shutdown has been widely forecast for months. The writers last month voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike, with 98% of membership in support. Writers say their pay isn't keeping pace with inflation, TV writer rooms have shrunk too much and the old calculus for how residuals are paid out needs to be redrawn.

Streaming has exploded the number of series and films that are annually made, meaning more jobs for writers. But writers say they’re making less than they used to while working under more strained conditions. The WGA said “the companies’ behavior has created a gig economy inside a union workforce.”

The union is seeking more compensation for writers up front. That's because many of the payments writers have historically profited from on the back end — like syndication and international licensing — have been largely phased out by the onset of streaming.

The studios' trade association said Monday that the primary sticking points to a deal revolved around so-called mini-rooms — the guild is seeking a minimum number of scribes per writer room — and the duration of employment contracts.

The writers' union says more flexibility is needed for writers at a time when they’re contracted for series that tend to be shorter-lived than the once-standard 20-plus episode broadcast season. They are also seeking more regulation around the use of artificial intelligence, which writers say could give producers a shortcut to finishing a WGA writer's work.

“Understand that our fight is the same fight that is coming to your professional sector next: it’s the devaluing of human effort, skill, and talent in favor of automation and profits," said the writer-director Justine Bateman.

Many studios and production companies are slashing spending. The Walt Disney Co. is eliminating 7,000 jobs. Warner Bros. Discovery is cutting costs to lessen its debt. Netflix has pumped the brakes on spending growth.

With a walkout long expected, writers have rushed to get scripts in and studios have sought to prepare their pipelines to keep churning out content for at least the short term. But the loss to local economies can be considerable. Los Angeles is estimated to have lost $2.1 billion in economic output during the last strike.

“We’re assuming the worst from a business perspective,” David Zaslav, chief executive of Warner Bros. Discovery, said last month. “We’ve got ourselves ready. We’ve had a lot of content that’s been produced.”

Overseas series could also fill some of the void. “We have a large base of upcoming shows and films from around the world,” Ted Sarandos, Netflix co-chief executive, said on the company’s earnings call in April.

The WGA strike may only be the beginning. Contracts for both the Directors Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA, the actors union, expire in June. Some of the same issues around the business model of streaming will factor into those bargaining sessions.

The actors' union on Tuesday encouraged its members to join the writers’ picket lines in solidarity.

Aron Ranen and David Bauder contributed to this report.

The United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers (UAW) announced Saturday it reached a tentative agreement with John Deere.

UAW said the John Deere bargaining team reached a tentative agreement, but the strike will continue while they finish the process of verifying the agreement.

“Our UAW John Deere national bargaining team went back to our local members after the previous tentative agreement and canvassed the concerns and priorities of membership,” said UAW President Ray Curry. “We want to thank the UAW bargaining team and striking UAW members and their families for the sacrifices they have made to achieve these gains. Our members have enjoyed the support of our communities and the entire labor movement nationwide as they have stood together in support and solidarity these past few weeks.”

UAW leadership said the agreement has "enhanced economic gains and continues to provide the highest quality health care benefits in the industry."

More details will be released when the union members have time to meet and review the proposed contract.

On Oct. 14, more than 10,000 John Deere union workers went on strike across the country. A majority of the union had rejected a contract offered by John Deere earlier that week.

The workers at the Ankeny plant asked for raises and better retirement benefits.

It was the first strike since 1986, which lasted five months.

About 10,000 members of the United Auto Workers union went on strike against farm and construction equipment maker John Deere early Thursday morning.

The UAW had reached a tentative agreement on a new six-year contact with the company two weeks ago, only to see 90% of the rank-and-file members of the union reject it in a ratification vote that concluded this past Sunday. Union and management negotiators talked into the night Wednesday trying to reach a new deal but were unable to do so.

This is the nation's largest private-sector strike since the UAW waged a costly six-week strike against General Motors two years ago. And it continues a recent trend of workers flexing more muscle as the dynamics of the labor market tip more toward them and away from employers. Businesses have been struggling to find the workers they need to fill a recent record number of job openings. There has also been a record high number of workers quitting jobs.

Last week, 1,400 members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union went on strike against Kellogg, shutting plants where cereal brands such as Rice Krispies, Raisin Bran, Froot Loops, Corn Flakes and Frosted Flakes are made.

And earlier Wednesday, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees — which represents technicians, artisans and craftspersons in the entertainment industry — announced it had set a strike deadline for early Monday morning if they could not reach a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers for 60,000 film and television workers. The union said that 98.6% of members had voted to authorize a strike if there is no new deal by then.

Video below: Kellogg addresses strike in new vide

However, the U.S. Labor Department reports that the number of strikes so far this year is actually down compared to the same period of 2019, the year before the COVID-19 pandemic riled labor markets.

Overall wages are up, as it appears that employers — both unionized and nonunion — are more willing to give workers what they want to keep them on the job.

Good times at Deere

The strike at Deere & Co., the formal name of the company popularly known as John Deere, shuts operations at 11 factories in Illinois, Iowa and Kansas, and three distribution centers in Georgia, Illinois and Colorado. The company makes both agricultural and construction equipment. Demand for its products has been strong.

The company said in August that it sees growing orders through the rest of this fiscal year that runs through Nov. 1, and into the first fiscal quarter of next year.

The rejected contract for UAW members at John Deere would have given them immediate raises in their base pay of 5% to 6%, and additional wage increases later in the contract that could have increased average pay by about 20% over the six years of the rejected deal. It also eliminated a second lower tier of pay for some more recent hires of the company, bringing them up to the pay of other UAW members.

The average production worker at Deere made about $60,000 last year, and could end this contract earning about $72,000.

Among the features of the rejected contract was the return of a cost of living adjustment — once a common feature of union contracts that has become rare in recent years. But it could have been lucrative at a time that inflation is running at levels not seen for decades. It also included improvements in benefits, including an enhanced retirement bonus of up to $50,000.

But unlike the last two UAW contracts at Deere, which were negotiated during difficult times for the company, these negotiations took place at an especially good time for the company.

That might have made reaching an agreement that membership would embrace more difficult. The current financial success at Deere may have led some of the union members to believe they deserved an even better package than the one that was rejected, especially after less lucrative deals in the past.

Revenue for the first three quarters of Deere's fiscal year rose to $32.7 billion, up 11% from the same period of 2019 ahead of the pandemic. Net income soared to a record $4.7 billion, up 84% on the same basis. The company was able to do so while dealing with many of the supply chain issues dogging the auto industry, and it was able to raise its outlook for full-year profits to as much as $5.9 billion.

The company has been hiring during the last year as well, as union-represented jobs at Deere climbed 19% since Nov. 1 of 2020.

Shares of Deere are up 23% year-to-date, although Wednesday's close was off 16% from where shares stood in early September.

Video above: Police break up protests as Myanmar crisis heightens

Myanmar security forces early Wednesday raided a neighborhood in the country's largest city that is home to state railway workers who have gone on strike to protest last month's military coup.

Police sealed off the Mingalar Taung Nyunt neighborhood in Yangon where the Ma Hlwa Kone train station and housing for railway workers are located. Photos and video on social media showed officers blocking streets and what was said to be people escaping. At least three arrests were reported but it was not immediately possible to independently confirm that.

The raid comes just days after several Myanmar unions, including the Myanmar Railway Worker’s Union Federation, issued a joint call for a nationwide work stoppage. The statement said the strike would be part of a broader effort for “the full, extended shutdown of the Myanmar economy.”

Myanmar has been roiled by protests and other acts of civil disobedience since the Feb. 1 coup that toppled elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi's government just as it was to start its second term. The coup reversed years of slow progress toward democracy in the Southeast Asian nation after five decades of military rule.

Security forces have responded with mass arrests and at times lethal force. At least 60 protesters have been killed since the military takeover, according to the independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

Authorities have also moved to shut down independent reporting on the situation, both through arrests of journalists the closure of media outlets.

Despite the increasingly violent tactics of security forces, protests continued Wednesday in cities and towns across the country, including Yangon, Mandalay, Monywa, Dawei and Myitkyina.

State railway workers were among the earliest organized supporters of the protest movement and their strike began soon after the coup.

Police last month made an effort at intimidating railway workers in Mandalay, the country’s second-biggest city, by roaming through their housing area one night, shouting and randomly firing guns.

The junta now in control of the country, formally called the State Administration Council, indirectly acknowledged the effectiveness of the rail strike.

The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper in a Tuesday report on a junta meeting, cited officials as saying that rail transport between Yangon-Mandalay would resume “in the near future.”

It also acknowledged that the banking sector has been affected by the protest movement.

The dawn raid on the railway workers followed another night of intimidation by police marching through residential areas in several cities after an 8 p.m. curfew, firing guns and stun grenades, and staging selective raids to arrest people.

There were more reports Tuesday of protesters dying in custody after being arrested. The latest was a school principal who died of unknown causes after being taken into custody by security forces, according to media reports and an activist who knew him.

Previously, an activist with Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party died in custody. Witnesses said his body had wounds consistent with torture, according to New York-based Human Rights Watch.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, more than 1,930 people have been arrested in connection with the coup. Dozens of journalists have been arrested, including Thein Zaw of The Associated Press, who has been charged under a public order law that carries a penalty of up to three years in prison.

Authorities continued their assault on the media on Tuesday, raiding the offices of Kamayut Media and detaining its co-founder and editor-in-chief. The military also raided the offices of Mizzima, an online news service. No one was arrested in the latter raid, though equipment was vandalized and property was taken away.

The military government on Monday announced that the licenses of five local media outlets — Mizzima, DVB, Khit Thit Media, Myanmar Now and 7Day News — had been canceled. All five had been offering extensive coverage of the protests.

CINCINNATI (AP) — Guillermo Heredia homered, doubled and made a defensive gem before crashing into the wall in the eighth inning in his return to Atlanta’s lineup, helping the Braves beat the Cincinnati Reds 3-2 on Friday night.

The game’s first run came in the fifth when Atlanta’s Freddie Freeman doubled home Ronald Acuña Jr. for his 900th career RBI.

Acuña returned to the lineup after missing two games with lower back tightness.

Dansby Swanson hit a solo homer in the sixth and Heredia added a solo shot in the seventh, both off Reds rookie Vladimir Gutiérrez (3-2).

Gutiérrez got some defensive help in the fourth. With runners on second and third and two outs, Eugenio Suárez made a diving stop of William Contreras’ bouncer down the line and threw to first from his knees to end the inning.

Suárez also hit a solo home run off Luke Jackson in the seventh.

Drew Smyly (1-1) exited after six innings with a 3-1 lead. And the bullpen made things interesting.

Heredia, who returned to the lineup after being available off the bench the last two games due to right wrist inflammation, robbed Jesse Winker of an extra-base hit leading off the eighth. He collided with the wall and appeared to hurt his right shoulder on the play, but remained in the game after being attended to by training staff.

Will Smith worked the ninth and picked up his 16th save.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Reds: After being scratched from his minor-league rehab start on Thursday due to a stiff back, right-hander Sonny Gray is confident he can make his scheduled start on Saturday, keeping him on track to rejoin the Reds rotation next week. Outfielder Nick Senzel (left knee) and infielder Mike Moustakas (right heel) aren’t expected back until after the All-Star break.

UP NEXT

After posting a 7.22 ERA in his first 11 starts. Reds right-hander Luis Castillo (2-10, 5.61 ERA) has a 2.19 ERA in four starts since. He’ll be opposed by right-hander Ian Anderson (5-3, 3.33 ERA), who is making his first career start against the Reds.