"The Brady Bunch in the New York Mystery" - Chapter 1

1) PLOT SYNOPSIS: Mike Brady tells his family asks the family to guess which “really big town” they’re going to visit. (Now the online dictionaries I consulted say a town is bigger than a village and smaller than a city. Of course, Mike Brady couldn’t consult online dictionaries.) The answer was New York where Mike has an architects’ conference. His wife, Carol, and their kids (Greg, Marcia, Peter, Jan, Bobby and Cindy) and their housekeeper, Alice, are all excited about the trip. They will stay with a widower friend of Mike’s who lives in a large Long Island with his 16 year-old daughter. Mike Brady will attend the conference and work on plans for a bank while the rest of the family tours the “town” of New York. In other developments, Peter fixes his camera for the trip. Jan is creeped out by a man outside their house who is looking for “the Grady’s”. Inexplicably, Bobby dresses as a vampire and scares Jan. And the creepy man continues to hang around outside the Brady house…….. 2) CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: Mike needs a dictionary. Carol is easily amused. Alice presumes a lot for a “housekeeper”. Greg starts panting as soon as he hears he will see a girl roughly his age in New York. Marcia is sensitive to remarks about her cooking (especially her spaghetti which is heavy on the garlic.) Peter has given up magic for photography. Jan is easily spooked. Bobby dresses up in strange outfits with little provocation. Cindy is mocked for thinking Denver is bigger than San Francisco (and rightfully so.)……… 3) RELEVANT CULTURAL ISSUES: Native American Issues and Economic Troubles bought together in this exchange: “’I remember’ Peter put in. ‘The Indians sold it (Manhattan) for twenty four dollars.’ ‘I wonder if they’ll ever try to get it back,’ Jan wondered. ‘They wouldn’t dare,’ Alice said, chuckling. ‘They couldn’t afford it now because of inflation!’” Crime – people are said to be robbed in Central Park……… 4) HIP SLANG: “Groovy’ (Peter), “For Pete’s Sake” (Jan)……….. 5) CONTEMPORARY CULTURAL REFERENCES: Alice dreams Rock Hudson is deciding between her and Raquel Welch. Perhaps Cindy’s reference to “Midget Vampires”……….. 6) FAVORITE SENTENCE: When Alice is asked if she knows the Gradys, she replies, “If there are any, I suppose they’d be known as the Grady Grumps.”