ET Obsessions: 'When We Rise,' Richard Simmons Podcast, 'Chicago Justice,' and Wolverine's Goodbye
Here at ET, we’re obsessed with a lot of things -- and for
the week of Feb. 27 to March 5, this is what we’re most excited about:
Why We’re Obsessed
With ‘Missing Richard Simmons’
From filmmaker Dan Taberski comes a gripping new podcast
that seeks to answer the question: Whatever happened to longtime fitness guru
Richard Simmons? After disappearing from public life and seemingly ghosting all
his close friends and supporters in 2014, Simmons mostly hasn’t been heard from
since. Taberski, a fan and friend of Simmons, makes it his mission to find the
answer to that question, while also uncovering what made Simmons the man he is
today. The podcast, which is only two episodes in, blends the mystery of Serial with those E! True Hollywood Story specials that became popular in the late ’90s.
MORE: Richard Simmons Speaks Out: 'No One Should Worry About Me'
New episodes of Missing
Richard Simmons premiere every Wednesday.
Why We’re Obsessed
With ‘When We Rise’
On Monday, ABC debuts the 8-hour LGBT rights miniseries When We Rise, written and created by
Dustin Lance Black with Gus Van Sant and Dee Rees serving as directors. When We Rise chronicles the personal and
political stories of several major LGBT activists and events of the modern gay
rights movement that followed the 1969 Stonewall riots. At the center of the
miniseries is Cleve Jones, whose book When We Rise: My Life in the Movement largely serves as the source material for
the TV adaptation. Jones is portrayed onscreen by Austin P. McKenzie and,
later, Guy Pearce. The two actors lead an all-star cast, including Mary-Louise
Parker, Rachel Griffiths, Carrie Preston, Michael K. Williams, Whoopi Goldberg,
Rosie O’Donnell, T.R. Knight and Charlie Carver. Carver, who came out publicly
last year, says starring as a Vietnam soldier in the series that also largely
takes place in his hometown of San Francisco “felt very special.”
MORE: Charlie Carver Proudly Forges His Own Path
When We Rise premieres
Monday, Feb. 27 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on ABC with the remaining episodes airing March
1–3.
Why We’re Obsessed
With ‘Logan’
Logan, the new
R-rated installment in the X-Men
spinoff franchise about Wolverine, is the final film in the series for Hugh
Jackman, who has played the titular character since 2000, when director Bryan
Singer’s X-Men premiered in theaters.
Ready to retire his adamantium claws, Jackman is saying goodbye to Logan with a
grisly new adventure in the post-apocalyptic future, which has seen a
significant decline in mutants. “If you had Unforgiven,
Little Miss Sunshine and The Wrestler make a baby, this is it,”
Jackman says of the send-off for his character, whom the actor describes as “near
the end of his days and struggling to pay his bills” and suddenly a father
figure to a young female clone. “What defines Wolverine is yes, he's one of the
greatest warriors in history, but what is the cost of that? What is the weight
of that?”
MORE: Hugh Jackman Teases 'Different Tone' for Final Wolverine Film
Logan opens
nationally in theaters on Friday, March 3.
Why We’re Obsessed
With ‘Chicago Justice’
There’s no stopping the Chicago
TV franchise, which is adding Justice
to its interlocking universe of Fire,
Med and P.D. The latest stars Philip Winchester as an ambitious deputy chief
of the Special Prosecutions Bureau, whose quest for justice often puts him at
odds with Mark Jefferies (Carl Weathers), the Cook County state’s attorney. And
when it comes to the success of the Chicago
series, which creator Dick Wolf jokingly compares to the human body -- with Justice, Med and P.D. being the brain,
heart and muscle, respectively, and Fire
being the “crotch” -- he says, “if you like one, you’re probably not going to
hate the others.”
MORE: Behind the Scenes of the 'Chicago Fire' Stars' Sexy Photo Shoot
Chicago Justice
premieres Sunday, March 5 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.