……the two episodes following the premiere of the syndicated years. You’d think that the producers would want to integrate her into the cast right away…..

Not exactly two episodes in a row, but the second and fourth. It is odd. Iola's character also was toned down after From Soup to Nuts, so maybe they were doing some tweaking after the earliest syndicated episodes? I don't know. I haven't seen "National Mama" in many years, although I've seen the episodes around it several times.

I liked “mental” Iola when she lost it about making chili for her father. Lol.

Soup to Nuts was great. Iola was the nut in that one.

Believe it or not but I never really noticed this before.