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Yeah, some of the dialogue in AH just comes across as one-liners. "Call the lobster squad", etc, whereas with Manhattan it seems more natural, more conversational. Plus there's far less sight-gags. But as you said before, AH is a transition film; M seems more like him at ease with his new creative self. But it's a mark of his brilliance that we can find fault in a film that, were we not aware of the greatness that would follow, would probably count as one of the greatest comedies ever made ... and probably still is.
And like you, AH was pivotal in my broader cultural education. I read McLuhan straight after seeing it. But Manhattan literally changed my life, from sparking what's since become a life-long love for Gershwin, listening to (and loving) Louis Armstrong's Potato-Head Blues and generally concretising an obsession with New York that hasn't weakened since. I even made it an ambition to have dinner at Elaine's and was massively sad when I read it'd closed.
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