Did you see this major glitch on 'AGT' Tuesday?

Bill Keveney | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Howie Mandel praises 'AGT' behind-the-scenes crew, staff on live shows In an Aug. 14 interview, Judge Howie Mandel explains why he thinks 'America's Got Talent' is the best-produced yet most underappreciated show on TV.

"America's Got Talent" displayed the risk and intrigue of live television Tuesday, as a mechanical glitch led to camera time for usually unseen crew members.

NBC's hit reality competition (Wednesday, 8 EDT/PDT) inadvertently allowed viewers behind the scenes, because of a malfunction in a huge stage divider, or door, that hides workers making set changes between acts, often while host Tyra Banks and a performer are standing at the front of the stage.

Moments into the quarterfinal episode, broadcast live to the East Coast, Banks explained the problem to viewers, who could see black-clad crew members working on stage behind her after an opening performance by teen singer Makayla Phillips. (Although stage workers generally aren't seen by the TV audience, fans attending the show at Los Angeles' Dolby Theatre get to watch them work, especially during commercial breaks.)

"I've got to let everybody know at home that you're going to be seeing a lot of stuff, like our crew working behind us, during the show and that's because we have these really cool doors, but they're not working right now. They're broken," she said.

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"But, as Beyonce says, when you get lemons, you make what? Lemonade!" Banks added in her best the-show-must-go-on mode. "You guys are going to get to see everybody working, so I think it's actually cool."

Actually, it was. As USA TODAY observed in a behind-the-scenes visit to last week's live show, the backstage is home to impressive choreography, as crew members move huge set pieces on and off stage during short commercial breaks.

Executive producer Jason Raff talked about live-show pressures after last week's show.

"You have a stressed-out crew of stagehands who need to make sure all those props, in 3½ minutes (of commercial break), end up where they're supposed to end up, everything plugged in right, everything set up so the danger acts don't go wrong," he said.

The problem still hadn't been resolved at the start of the show's second hour, as Banks advised viewers: "I'm sure you're thinking, 'Hey I'm seeing a lot of stuff happen with the crew back here this week,' and that's because these big doors back here, they normally hide all the stuff that's going on, but they are busted. They are broke, y'all. But that's live TV."

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The various stage doors and dividers, which serve as high-resolution screens, appeared to be suffering from video problems, too, at least according to judge Howie Mandel's comments after a comedy performance by Samuel J. Comroe, who incorporated the fact he has Tourette syndrome in an earlier audition.

"When you came out the first time, you talked about Tourette's. This time, I didn't see any Tourette's, except for the video guy that's operating the video behind you," he said.

"It was flashing, right?" asked Banks, who was onstage next to Comroe, facing the judges. (As Comroe performed, some brief flashes and jumps on the video wall behind him could be seen on TV. In a wider camera shot as the judges commented on his standup act, videos appeared to be playing on screens at both sides of the stage.)

Mandel answered, praising Comroe's focus: "There's something going on behind you, which for a comedian is incredibly distracting. The audience is looking at the wall. It's still going on. You still worked through adversity and we love you and good job and hopefully they can get the video wall fixed."

"Live TV, y'all, live TV," Banks responded.