Tuning In

Out of sync

What does Ashlee Simpson have in common with Elvis Costello and Sinead O’Connor?

By interrupting her set mid-song during last weekend’s “Saturday Night Live,” the pop music princess joined the lore of other unexpected “live” music moments on the long-running NBC program.

Miss O’Connor, some may recall, began tearing up a picture of the pope while performing. And Mr. Costello first stopped, and then changed songs as viewers looked on.

Miss Simpson’s brush with the unexpected happened during her second number when the audience heard her singing the wrong song — as she held a microphone at her waist.

Her record company blamed a computer glitch and she blamed her band for the problem, which cut off her planned performance of the song “Autobiography.”

Miss Simpson had performed her hit single “Pieces of Me” without incident earlier in the show. When she returned for an encore, her band began playing her new single, “Autobiography,” while the pre-recorded first lines of her singing “Pieces of Me” were repeated.

She looked momentarily confused as the band plowed ahead with the song, although the vocals were quickly silenced. Miss Simpson danced a jig, then walked off stage 35 seconds into the performance. NBC quickly cut to a commercial.

“What can I say? Live TV,” guest host Jude Law said as Miss Simpson stood next to him during the show’s closing moments.

“Exactly,” Miss Simpson uttered. “I feel so bad. My band started playing the wrong song. I didn’t know what to do so I thought I’d do a hoedown.”

Her record company, Geffen Records, said there was a computer glitch. Instead of some pre-taped electronic percussion, the recording of “Pieces of Me” was mistakenly replayed, Geffen said in a statement.

But it sounded suspiciously like a “guide” vocal, a common (although almost always unacknowledged) concert aid. The singer either “lip syncs” by mouthing words to a backing tape or has a live microphone and sings along to the tape — making the voice sound more powerful than it is.

Such vocal tricks have been used before on the show, casting some doubt on its “live” content, said an “SNL” insider who spoke to Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

A Geffen spokeswoman did not immediately return a call for comment.

You’ve got Mailer

Author Norman Mailer pays a visit to the WB’s “Gilmore Girls” tonight, lending a touchof literary class to the respected show.

The long-running drama, which airs Tuesday nights at 8, finds Mr. Mailer being interviewed by a reporter while staying at Lorelai’s (Lauren Graham) Connecticut inn. Mr. Mailer’s son, actor Stephen Mailer, plays the reporter quizzing the literary giant.

“We just put the camera on the two of them, and they’d just sort of vamp,” says Amy Sherman-Palladino, the show’s executive producer. “Stephen would ask him these deep questions, and Norman would go on and on about his philosophy of writing, his favorite writers, the difference between fiction and nonfiction.”

Pretty heady stuff for network fare.

The elder Mailer wasn’t eager to sign on initially but later said a viewing of the show changed his mind.

“I felt better when I saw a couple of runs of the show. It had taste. It was witty and well put together,” Mr. Mailer said.

Mrs. Pryor cast

Actress Gina Ravera has been cast as the wife of the Richard Pryor-inspired character in the Showtime comedy pilot “Pryor Offenses,” Reuters News Agency reports.

The half-hour comedy is an updated take on Mr. Pryor’s days as a young stand-up comic, as played by Eddie Griffin, on the verge of a career breakthrough.

Mr. Pryor and his wife, Jennifer Pryor, will serve as executive producers.

Miss Ravera had a co-starring role in the much-maligned film “Showgirls” in 1995. Her recent credits include a starring role in the independent film “Gas” and a guest-starring role in the TNT pilot, “The Closer.”

Compiled by Christian Toto from staff and wire reports.