The weather has taken a turn for the cooler, the Washington Redskins actually won a game, and it's finally OK to eat pumpkin pie without having people judge you... Fall, my favorite time of the year. This week will really be devoted to the big dramas that are out mixed in with some good old fashioned girl group news so let's get right to it.

Cool Things of the Week

Really Quick Review: 'The Heirs' Part 2

Last week I expressed some moderate disappointment after watching the first two episodes of 'The Heirs'. I just found the premise to be sadly unoriginal but given the star power (Lee Min Ho and Park Shin Hye especially) and the idol presence (Krystal!!), I had to give the drama the customary four episode trial before making any final decisions. I watched intently last week hoping to pick up on anything that might be a reason to stick with the series and the results were a mixed bag. I liked the angles of Lee Min Ho's younger brother to Choi Jin Hyuk's older stepbrother (the little brother pining for his older brother's approval is always an effective motivator) and the shady back story with Kang Min Hyuk's dad and Kim Ji Won's  mom. My main problem wasn't anything specific rather, as I was watching, I found myself fast forwarding through a good portion of the episodes because I was bored. There's just not anything that really makes me want to keep watching or creates any kind of attachment to the show. I wanted to like the drama so I could watch Park Shin Hye twice a week but even she can't help save this show for me. I'll be reading the allkpop.com recaps to see if anything good happens but until then, it's a sad farewell for me.

Really Quick Review: 'Reply 1994'

I'm going to preface this by saying that because I was such a huge fan of 'Reply 1997',  I had some very unrealistic expectations for this show. So while 'Reply 1994' was just OK for me, please understand that I might not be the best gauge of true quality at this point.

What I Liked:

• Go Ara. I don't like her as much as Eunji (yet) but she is good.
• Use of the real Yonsei University basketball players. When I visited Korea back in 1995, I went to a Yonsei basketball game against visiting NBA players (you know you're old when one of the players was the X-Man, Xavier McDaniel). Yonsei lost but these guys were true rock stars and had a huge following of fans.
• The Mom and Dad from 'Reply 1997' with the running gag of the mom always cooking too much food.

What I Didn't Like:

• No chemistry between Go Ara and any of the male actors. One of them is supposed to be her husband and in my mind, I just can't see that happening.
• So... the "Garbage" character ISN'T her brother… OH!!!! I was getting grossed out with all of the the touchy, feely (literally) stuff but after re-watching the episodes, makes sense. I can't be the only one confused by this can I?
• Overuse of the goat sound effect. The producers use it to signify an "oops" moment or when something embarrassing happens but it's just too much.

Why I Should Have Been an International Movie Star

Because you can do stuff like this:

Other Quick Hits:

1. Hyorin going solo - We all saw that one coming a mile away and it was just a natural progression of her career. Best thing K-pop ever did: let "grouped" artists have solo projects. Everyone's happy and they make twice the cash.
2. Min and the Rick Ross fried chicken photo - I saw Min's Instagram picture of the Rick Ross/fried chicken thing and as someone who didn't know there was a whole meme about that out there, I was kind of surprised. I certainly don't think she meant any harm and was just following a social trend but I'll just say this, all because something is popular doesn't make it right. 
3. YoonA in a new drama - I love all things YoonA so will watch even though I think her playing a 28 year old reporter is a bit of a stretch because she looks 19 (in a good way).

Girl Group Variety Show Round-Up

A list of all the girl group appearances (that I saw) this week.

• 'Weekly Idol' - Ladies' Code
• 'Immortal Classic 2' - Soyu (with Jay Park)
• 'Star King' -  SPICA, Hong Jin Young, SECRET Ji Eun (See Video of the Week)
• 'Running Man' - IU (Best part of this episode was the use the 'Game of Thrones' theme. Winter is coming...)
• 'Real Men' - 2EYES

The Taeyeon Experiment

Each week I will post a picture from Taeyeon's Instagram feed in the hopes that one day she'll post a picture of herself reading this column.

I think the entire SMTown crew was in Beijing for a concert last week which would explain the increased Instagram activity from many of the SMers… but the real point of all of this is, how can you not love this face?

Bonus:

I have no idea what Nature Republic is and will never use it but if I see it, I'm going to buy it just because they were kind enough to release this video.

Pic/.Gif/Video of the Week

Ji Eun was a panel guest on Saturday's 'Star King' and performed a song with pianist Steve Barakatt (who has a history with working with K-pop artists) which he wrote. It's a simple song but I couldn't help but think that Ji Eun's voice fit perfectly with the simplicity and she should try her hand at these types of ballads from time to time.

Uncle Fan Mailbag

I think I've mentioned everyone I needed to. "I was kinda disappointed not seeing any mentions of the recent comebacks of IU, Kahi, AOA, Shinee, and Nine Muses."
-ikpoplolz

Yeah, apparently I totally missed this Nine Muses comeback (I swear I didn't know about it) but I did give them some love later in the article (see Song of the Week). As far as the others, I definitely spent time on both IU and Kahi's comebacks so didn't feel the need to review their albums or anything since allkpop already does a good job with that. I know nothing about AOA but will make an effort this week to watch/listen to their music. Shinee is a boy band and I will choose to ignore boy bands as much as humanly possible.

Oh gross. "If you like Instagram updates, I suggest you follow Yoseob. Even if you're a male, you can't NOT fall for this cuteness <3."
-moomoo21

I will not be falling for any guy's cuteness although he did start appearing on the show 'I Live Alone' so I'll watch him on TV... but you can rule out following him on social media.

You just did. "I have a question for the Uncle Fan Mailbag but how do I ask."
-aznjen96

Ask away right here in the comments section or tweet me (@KpopUncleFan).

Top 5 Favorite Girl Groupers Right Now

1. Taeyeon - A picture is worth a thousand words.
2. Ji Eun - More solo work!
3. IU - She was the only thing that made 'Running Man' bearable to watch.
4. Krystal - I didn't watch the sitcom she was in so seeing her act for the first time. Not bad.
5. Sunye - Congrats on being a new mom!

Song of the Week

I caught some heat last week from readers about not calling out Nine Muses' newest single and to be honest, I didn't even know about it. But being the good Uncle Fan that I am, I took a listen and sure enough, I enjoyed the song. So for everyone's  listening pleasure, here is the music video for "Gun".

Have a good week and if you're anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere, hopefully you're enjoying the cool weather. See you back here next time.. Uncle Fan out!