Will a TV set work in foreign countries the same as in the U.S.? There is a TV available locally for free that the lady said worked great in Germany when she bought it but won't work at all now here in Kansas. She has the adaptor for it. Is there something different about how the broadcast is sent out or was something mechanically just broken in the move?

A TV that worked in Germany will not work here in the US, and vice versa. Germany uses the PAL video system. America uses the NTSC system. The TV should "work" here, but the image will probably be all screwed up.