TV NEWS

Reviews, Blogs, and TV Guide and schedule for Cleveland, OH

A state-run TV channel is stirring controversy with a documentary about a fake game show in which credulous participants obey orders to deliver increasingly powerful electric shocks to a man, who is really an actor, until he appears to die. The producers of "The Game of Death," set to air Wednesday night, wanted to examine both what they call TV's mind-numbing power to suspend morality, and the striking human willingness to obey orders.  Full story »

ABC's "Lost" has inspired legions of fans and chat boards with its intricate mythology. Each Wednesday, we recap the previous night's highlights. We got to see two sides of Sawyer in Tuesday's "Lost" episode, "Re-Con." Full story »

Friday's sixth-season finale of "Numb3rs" was, with almost mathematical certainty, also the series finale. CBS didn't bill it as the crime drama's farewell episode, but it didn't take a genius to see that this looked like the end of the prime-time trail for math genius Charlie Eppes (David Krumholtz) and his FBI agent brother, Don (Rob Morrow). Full story »

It was Rolling Stones' night on "American Idol" and the panel of judges was most impressed with Siobhan Magnus' theatrical interpretation of "Paint It Black," which concluded with the 20-year-old glass blower wailing into the microphone. Full story »

We got to see two sides of Sawyer in Tuesday's "Lost" episode, "Re-Con." On the island, he's still a con man, conning Flocke and Widmore - or maybe not. In L.A., he's the other side of a coin: a cop. But he's not so different. Like island Sawyer, he's searching for the con man who led to his parent's death. But this time, he does it as a lawman (with Miles as his partner).  Full story »

Forbes "miserable" ranking and Drew Carey's videos prompted discussion, says host John Stossel. Carey and Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich are among those on the panel. Full story »

Just when you thought the thrilling third season of "Damages" couldn't get any better, here comes Ted Danson, back in this mystery game as ever-intriguing fallen businessman Arthur Frobisher. Monday night's episode found Frobisher trying to rebuild his tarnished image by reinventing himself as an environmentalist. Full story »

Bay Village native Patricia Heaton and her "Everybody Loves Raymond" co-stars will be honored at the "8th Annual TV Land Awards, which will be held April 17 at Culver City's Sony Lot. A taped version of the awards ceremony will air at 9 p.m. Sunday, April 25, on TV Land.  Full story »

Peter Graves, who died Sunday at 83, was best known as the leader of the "Mission: Impossible" team, but he remained a TV fixture for more than 50 years. Full story »

Continuing to run strong on "The Amazing Race," Cleveland Indians third base coach Steve Smith and his daughter Allison stayed in second place after Sunday night's fifth leg of the Emmy-winning CBS reality show's 16th edition. It was their third consecutive second-place finish. Full story »

Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg have teamed up again on a special World War II project. "The Pacific" is a powerful 10-part miniseries that begins at 9 p.m. Sunday on HBO. It is, of course, the story of American boys who went to war. And the battle scenes are depicted with horrifying ferocity. This is war as a hellish and pitiless nightmare. Full story »

Raylan, a U.S. marshal played by Timothy Olyphant, is right at home on a cutting-edge cable channel that has given us such intriguing characters as Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) on "The Shield," Tommy Gavin (Denis Leary) on "Rescue Me" and Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) on "Damages."  Full story »

Tyler Labine played the amiably goofy slacker character in the ABC fantasy drama "Invasion" (2005-06). Then he played the amiably goofy slacker character in the CW's mix of drama and comedy, "Reaper" (2007-09). And now, you guessed it, he plays an amiably goofy slacker character in Fox's "Sons of Tucson," which premieres at 9:30 p.m. Sunday on WJW Channel 8. Full story »

If Betty White wants to gather some Northeast Ohio tips before the June premiere of TV Land's "Hot in Cleveland," she'll get her chance very soon. ABC announced Friday that White will guest star in the season finale of "The Middle," which stars Bay Village native Patricia Heaton as a middle-class, middle-aged mom in a mid-west town. Full story »