Why Luke Perry and Beverly Hills, 90210 made growing up in Dubai just a little more memorable

enid@khaleejtimes.com

I REMEMBER WHEN Beverly Hills, 90210 first begain airing in the UAE on Dubai’s Channel 33, around the same time as the show’s debut in the United States in 1990.

About a group of good looking teenagers tackling high school (and life) in the affluent suburb of Beverly Hills in California’s Los Angeles County, 90210 went on to strike a huge chord with us ‘Dubai kids’ and became extremely popular, so much so that we gladly risked inciting the wrath of our mothers as we expressed our desire to tape the shows we couldn’t watch during exams. 90210 lead characters Brandon (Jason Priestley), Brenda (Shannon Doherty), Dylan (Luke Perry), Steve (Ian Ziering), Kelly (Jennie Garth) and Donna (Tori Spelling) became household names, and even though we were thousands of miles away from Beverly Hills and had little in common with these characters on the surface – we didn’t drive shiny supercars or wear designer clothes to school, we didn’t flash credit cards in the mall, yet, there were so many ways in which we could relate to them and their accomplishments, joys, and problems.

Luke Perry’s character Dylan Mckay – a ridiculously handsome rebel who read poetry, rode a motorbike and wooed Brenda, had teenage girls around the world swooning with his angstridden charm. I became something of a superfan of both Perry and Dylan. The Dylan-brenda romance had me spellbound; I felt as if Dylan and Brenda were my friends, and every time their love hit a rough patch I would shed tears in earnest and hope for a reconciliation in the next 90210 episode.

Perry had starred in a number of shows - Another World, Loving and Voyagers -before being catapulted into the spotlight with Beverly Hills, 90210. In 1992 he starred in the film Buffy The Vampire Slayer, written by Joss Whedon, who went on to the create the famous series of the same name. My excitement at getting the film on video from Al Mansoor in Karama and watching it at home wasn’t dampened by the fact that no one else in t quite able to see what al about.

Back in the 90s, I wou the shelves in Spinneys’ tion to spot anything Pe gladly part with my mon money. We could not aff a magazine or two a mo ers were exchanged with have one from when I w reminder of a time when with the kids from Bever RIP Luke. Thanks for the