Popspotting

Before TV Tuesday shifts gears to track returning and new television shows, there’s one beloved series to which we had to pay tribute: “Battlestar Galactica.” Ronald D. Moore’s fantastic reimagining of the 1970s show debuted on the Sci-Fi Channel in 2003 with a three-hour miniseries. It was a huge hit, serving as a backdoor pilot to inspire four seasons and over 70 episodes.

We might not be able to send you home with a Giant Ass Panda, but we hope today's double feature helps grow your appreciation for a couple of great films set in or near classic amusement parks. First up, "The Lost Boys," a classic teen horror comedy film by Joel Schumacher starring starring Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Kiefer Sutherland, Jami Gertz, Corey Feldman, Dianne Wiest, Edward Herrmann, and Alex "Ted" Winter. Then, "Adventureland," written and directed by Greg Mottola, and starring film stars Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Margarita Levieva, Ryan Reynolds, Martin Starr, Bill Hader, and Kristen Wiig.

Feedback Friday is jam packed with lots of great music and book talk. Nancy shares the soundtrack of her globetrotting youth, Des shares Jen's love of Guns N' Roses (and lobbies for some top five lists from Ryan). Celia introduces us to Ann McAffery's "Dragon Riders of Pern" series, Daniel endorses the "nerdgasm" of Ernest Cline's "Ready Player One," and David and Cari extend our young adult reading list with William Sleator and Adam Bradley. Finally, who is hotter: Matt Passmore or Simon Baker?

This week, joining us all the way from Long Island, New York, is long-time listener Fred Firestine. This Canadian-born husband, dad, and technology professional loves sci fi, Weird Al, and P90X. Formerly @ffluvssg1 on Twitter, you can now find him at @ffirestine. He also blogs now and then about his health and fitness journey.

We're fortunate to call Hawaii our home. And as residents of a place that represents a great getaway for much of the world, we're often asked for advice on places to go and things to see in the Aloha State. And as we start planning for our own regular "getaway" to the Big Island, we figured we'd take you along for the ride.

"Sons of Anarchy" sees its fourth season premiere tonight on FX. Created by Kurt Sutter, former executive producer of "The Shield," this series follows a biker gang based in the fictional Northern California town of Charming. Jen is a big fan of this gritty series, that's often described as "Hamlet on Harleys."

"The Debt" was a film festival hit last year, and was scheduled for a December 2010 release. But studio shenanigans delayed its debut until last week. But even though it hit theaters in the doldrums of late summer, it is a solid espionage thriller. Hear our take, which adds up to a Popspotting score of 8 out of 10.

We start off Feedback Friday with movie talk: a classic noir suggestion, a Lebowski virgin, and a crazy, stupid review. Then it's on to your favorite books, and a shared love of a serial killer. We can't say it enough: we're powered primarily by your comments here, on Facebook, Twitter, via e-mail and voicemail. Whether you're recommending something, responding to something, or just checking in, we love it.

This week’s “PopTalk & Trivia” guest is Matt Murdick. A renown St. Louis musician and long-time podcaster (from the “Keys to LOST” and “U.S. Whocast” podcasts), he’s now the host of the “Musical Concepts” podcast. You can also find him answering questions and riffing on life over at Vyou.com where he’s posted over 1,300 video responses. As a perfect followup to yesterday’s life-changing albums, Matt shares three recent musical picks. He then achieves a milestone never before achieved by any previous trivia guest. You can find Matt on Twitter at @musicalconcepts.

Though not quite ready to commit to naming her top five albums of all time (a followup to last week's list on the book side), Jen shares the five albums that changed her life, and a little of the story behind each. And there's a wide range of sounds, from classic crooner to hard rock to lush Hawaiian.

After yesterday's discussion of "Goodfellas," the only natural choice for TV Tuesday had to be HBO's original series "The Sopranos." The film shares several actors with the Martin Scorsese masterpiece. Created by David Chase, the show follows New Jersey Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) as he tries to balance his criminal empire and his personal life.

It's another movie double feature for Movie Monday, as Jen lines up a couple of three-hour films that star Robert DeNiro. First up is "Heat," written and directed by Michael Mann, which also stars Al Pacino, Val Kilmer, Diane Venora, Amy Brenneman, and Ashley Judd. Then it's on to "Goodfellas," a Martin Scorsese masterpiece which stars Ray Liotta, Paul Sorvino, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, and a dozen other great actors. We follow Liotta's Henry Hill, who says up front, "As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster."

Many new voices are heard in this week's "Feedback Friday" podcast, covering "Modern Family," and "Game of Thrones." And a couple of listeners share their own top songs of 1972. We hope more of you make the leap to the voicemail line, helping give everyone a break from our voices! Again, the number to call is 815-310-0808.

Our guest for PopTalk & Trivia Thursday is John Norton (@johnnorton. He’s an actor, director, host of “Zero Hour with John Norton” and co-host of “The Tribe: A Survivor Podcast.” The title of today’s podcast comes from John himself, who noticed that we had a Thursday naming convention before we did.

For Wildcard Wednesday, it's back to books, as Jen shares her top five books of all time (for now, subject to change). She also shares an update on what she's reading now... including a wildly popular young adult fantasy series that she's perhaps the last person on Earth to read.