Iola Boylen - Living

I love me some Iola Boylen!

I loved her cozies made from dryer lint.

I wish she were my friend.

I’m quite a bit like her!

Meh.

It’s good shit

She was awful the first half of the first season of syndication.The writers tried to pin her as a complete loon that was crazy for the doofus Vint (gag) After the “porn again” episode she was awesome, one of my favorite tv characters.

There really was an episode where Iola, Mama, and Naomi competed in a chili contest with Vint as the judge. Iola's and Mama's ingredients were similar (onion, tomato, etc.), but Naomi's ingredients included a can of chili.

I love all of those characters. I watch the repeats on Logo and MeTv all of the time for comfort.

Half as talented as SHE, OP.

I love Iola for comfort.

Countdown to this thread becoming about Bubba's ass in 3....2..... -- wait, I guess I already did it.

Beverly looks damn great for 70.

Well she died some time back.

R14 no she didn’t

Yes she’s dead. Google it.

She's not dead. It was all a hoax.

Death Rumors

Beverly Archer was reported dead in 2012 and it was such sad news that all her fans were already mourning and reposting the death story. It was said that she died in her Santa Monica home in California on the 1st of October 2012. Well, don’t be too sad, it was just a hoax. Too often, celebrities and stars get involved in such pranks. As impractical as these jokes are, they continue to occur. Thankfully, Beverly came out and refuted all claims of her death. Apparently, she had never even lived in Santa Monica and to date is alive and healthy.

I guess she ain't dead.

Knock, knock!!

Not a good show in general, but some of the syndicated episodes are entertaining, esp. in a mindless just want to unwind and watch some comfort food television sort of way. Iola was definitely the most talented cast member. There was an episode near the end where Mama had a film noir fantasy and Iola was the femme fatale and the actress nailed it.

Interesting observation about the change during the first syndicated season R7 . I think they altered Bubba a bit as well. When he was first on he was a bit more high strung like his mother Eunice in baggy jeans and suspenders. Eventually, he shirts and jeans got tighter, his hair less dorky, and he fell into a more generic likable dumb jock beefcake mode.

I do think they made Naomi too much of a ditz in the syndicated version. She had more of an edge and was more of a true foil for Mama the NBC version of the show. Plus, I think Lyman was better at playing the character as more of a fighter than the ditz -- I suppose it fit her strengths that she used when she played Opal on AMC.

I think naomi as a ditz made more sense because there is no way a smart naomi would have settled for a dimwit living with his mama.

Naomi as a ditz probably also made more sense for the softer tone of the syndicated version. Even Mama was portrayed as actually having a heart beneath the gruff exterior. A far cry from the original version of the character who really was a true monster, but worked for comfort food viewing. While the Carol Burnett skits were technically better, they were not people I wanted to see when I simply wanted to relax and unwind. While the writing and in general the acting was not great, the cast had pretty good chemistry which is why it worked in its own way.