A Subversive Soap Roils Saudi Arabia

"He has the looks, and he has the romance," said Abdullah Najjar, an engineer with Saudi Arabian Airlines. "It's very difficult to compete with him."

But clerics say the national obsession is unhealthy and detrimental to Saudi society's traditional culture. Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper quoted a prominent cleric, Abdul Mohsen al-Obeikan, as saying the show erodes Muslim values and asking satellite channels not to air it.

Others say "Noor" is dangerous precisely because of the similarities between Muhannad's clan and Saudis.

"When young people, who have all become fascinated with this show, watch Muslims like themselves engaging in premarital relations and having children out of wedlock, that is more dangerous than if they see Westerners doing those same things," said Safiya Ibrahim, an administrative assistant at a cafe where kids paint and read. Ibrahim said Saudi teenagers could come to believe that dating before marriage, which is frowned upon here, is okay because the characters in "Noor" do.

The fascination with the show and the lush scenery has propelled more than 100,000 Saudis to travel to Turkey this year, according to Turkish diplomats, up from about 40,000 last year. The fictional home of Muhannad's family has been rented by tour operators and turned into a temporary museum for visitors. Saudi magazines have featured several spreads of the luxury villa on the Bosporus in Istanbul where the show was shot and interviewed Saudi tourists there.

The show's finale, after 140 episodes, will be broadcast at the end of August, right before the start of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

"They're a tightknit family," said Roua Madani, a fan of the show who works in event management. "The couples express the romantic love we're missing in our culture. Even though it's exaggerated, it's good for men to see this kind of love, even if it's just on television."