Manny's First Day

Infobox Television episode | Title = Manny's First Day
Series = Black Books
Season = 1
Episode = 2
Guests =
Airdate = October 6, 2000
Production = | Writer = Dylan Moran & Graham Linehan
Director =


Prev = Cooking the Books
Next = Grapes of Wrath

"Manny's First Day" is an episode of Black Books. It was first aired on October 6, 2000. It is episode number 2 of season 1. It was written by Dylan Moran & Graham Linehan.

Plot Summary

Manny arrives at Black Books, only to find it is closed. He then walks next door and talks with Fran, who laughs hysterically at his assumptions of a "mellow" job at the bookstore. Manny returns to find Bernard lying on a couch, passed out from last nights drinking. Bernand awakes to find Manny looking at him, who he hired in a drunken stupor the previous night. He explains to him that he isn't the right material to sell books. Manny persuades Bernard to give him a trial day, to prove he can sell books.

Later that day, Manny bets Bernand he can sell a book to a lone customer, who immediately yells at Manny to leave him be as he talks to him. After being persuaded not to lock Manny in the book store, later, Bernard leaves Manny in charge. Manny manages to almost clear the bookshop of books, as many customers pour into the store as they find out Bernand has left. He makes a huge profit. Benard however does not like this as it means he will have to order books again, which as he explains is a giant hassle, However, Manny handles the order fine.

Later the same day Manny asks Bernard how his first day is coming, at which point Bernard tells him he will probably be fired, however a bottle of wine soon smooths this over. This doesn't last. Manny makes his way into Fran's shop (Nifty Gifty) to say good bye, at which point she threatens Bernard with physical violence until he agress to take Manny back.

Trivia

* Fran doesn't seem to know who Manny is in this episode, although they met for a short time in the previous episode.

Blackboard

* In this episode, the blackboard on the wall features a list of rules of the shop. These include: "No mobile phones, no Walkmans, and other indecipherable handwriting that even Bernard himself has to describe as "none of that or any of the others!"" because he can't read it. The rules remain on the blackboard throughout series one. They change in the later series, saying such things as "don't do that", and other equally obscure orders.

Guest Stars

* John Arthur - Customer # 1

* David Caan - Customer # 3

* David Decio - Student

* Ben Homewood - Customer # 4

* Graham Linehan - Book Lover

* Rhys Thomas - Customer # 5

* Stewart Wright - Customer # 2

External links

* [http://www.tv.com/black-books/mannys-first-day/episode/92264/summary.html This episode on tv.com]