April 2008 Archives

Good afternoon, 

• The Shy-anne Warrior (1964)
• King of the Amazons (1965)
• The Try-Athlete (1966)
• Al, Quiet on the Western Front (1966)
• The "M"-Ephant (1967)
• The Not-zi (1967)
• Who's That Knoxing At My Fort (1968)

An amazing... amazing run of hits.  And per his lifetime contract, he made every one of them on a salary of $650 a week.  Some say it was a ridiculous contract for a star of his magnitude to sign but you must remember, he was just coming off an incredible scandal in which he (allegedly) punched Sylvia Plath in the face on his late night talk show.  At that point, he would have paid us to keep him employed (he married quite a few golddiggers during the 1950s and needed all the scratch he could put together). 

After The Gastronaut (1980) failed to reignite his career (or the fortunes of Manka Bros. during the difficult early 1980s), it was Manka Bros. who renegotiated Joey's lifetime contract - lowering his weekly amount to $350 a week (a decent chunk of change in 1981 - and, may I say, a decent chunk of change today).

Joey Levitch is a legend and attention must be paid!  He's done everything for this studio from being a legitimate film legend to Broadway (Gulag: A New Musical) to Audio Books (Finnegan's Wake) to Television (several guest appearances on MBS television shows - most recently as crazy Uncle Kasi on Baker's Dozen).  We almost named the Manka Legends Channel - the Joey Levitch Channel because so much of it is dedicated to his work (but he wanted a piece of the revenue and that's not in his lifetime contract).

We wish him the best of luck in whatever else he chooses to do for this glorious studio - a studio that wouldn't exist if it weren't for him.

Khan Manka, Jr. - Chairman & CEO, Manka Bros. Studios

What the fuck was that?!!  Would it help if I read and made comments on all the scripts that we shoot?  I didn't laugh once!  Here's an example.

The 8:00 show on MBS is something called "Gut".  At the beginning of the episode, this fat guy that everyone calls "Gut" decides it would be great if they ordered the world's largest pizza in the morning and attempted to eat the entire thing by the end of the work day.  The entire episode was large people eating pizza and making jokes about eating pizza.  And, in the end, these lard asses couldn't even accomplish their goal!  They couldn't even finish it!  What kind of a message is that for kids?  Don't worry about accomplishing your goals?

IS THIS WHY MY UNCLE SPENT TIME IN JAIL FIGHTING FOR OUR RIGHTS TO FREE SPEECH?!  If he didn't fight for the right to exhibit Clara Bow's homemade sex movies, there wouldn't be an "R" rating today.  That's right - no "Schindler's List", no "Smokey And the Bandit", no "Full Metal Jacket"!

If "Gut" is going to be a fat guy with no ambition who only wants to drink beer and eat pizza (why he has a hot wife is beyond me) then I want him to be the BEST FAT GUY WHO ONLY WANT TO DRINK BEER AND EAT PIZZA!  Not some lame ass guy that can't finish what he starts.  The same thing applies to all Manka Bros. employees.  You're all on Khan's List!

I go back to what I always say... COMEDIES SHOULD BE FUNNY!

Khan Manka, Jr. - Chairman & CEO - Manka Bros. Studios