St Petersburg in January. The cold is staring to bite and the heaters are struggling. Into the breach steps another apparatus -- Television!

That's right, the American, glamour soapie craze has begun in Russia.

Last Tuesday saw the first screening of Beverly Hills 90210 and Miami Vice.

It may have been chilly outside (and inside even), but we could turn on to some steam, pout and sun from the wide world of mainstream US TV.

The dubbing of both series is hilarious.

Translations of phrases used by the main characters, students of West Beverly High like cool, groovy, hot, sexy, completely loose their meaning and flavour in Russian, and sound rough and strange.

"You've got a hot Mum!" became "You have a Haroshaya (good, sweet) mum." Sexy was translated as sexual.

Shown about five years ago, the movie-episode of Beverly Hills 90210 on the then State TV presented an image of America where students are so much like grown ups they drive Corvettes and Porsches to school instead of buses.

But I wanted to see it so badly -- their life seemed so glamorous and exciting.

Even living twenty minutes away from Hollywood, it still looked foreign.

In America I had hardly any time to party. I was too busy working and studying and people around me did not wear a new expensive outfit everyday, but T-shirts and shorts.

The luxury and warmth of California and Miami seem so unreal in Russia if you look out of the window and see the snow piles and no signs of palm trees at all.

Other recent US staples added to Russia's TV dinner menu are the Police Academy series, the Flintstones, Droopy the Dog, Tom and Jerry in Childhood. There's even a Family Feud remake -- A Hundred to One, capturing Russian hearts and minds.

Having lived in Los Angeles, California, for several years, I never knew my wait to see America's favourite shows would end so soon. And I never dreamed that this would happen here.

Even though the Santa Barbara series are popular in Russia, they are obviously dated.

Why are American shows so popular in Russia just now?

As a representative of the planning department of NTV explained, Russian shows do not stay long on the screens. No one wants to risk investing in them, it is much easier to take something conventional and add a Russian touch to it.

The representative added that channels fight for the rights of American shows, and will continue doing so because of their success. NTV hopes to bring Dallas to Russia.

In order to overcome the time lag existing between the present and the new shows first screenings and thus bring Russians closer to "real life," shows like Beverly Hills 90210 and Miami Vice are being shown five times every week.

For some strange reason the shows' have begun their season in January. This is doubly strange as it means the glamour soaps are currently showing summer episodes.

Even though Russia is in the same hemisphere as California and Florida, Beverly Hills and Miami Christmases will be screened here in May, when Russia will be relishing the end of its white (and sometimes off-white slush) Christmas and winter.

The "new" shows build on foundations first laid in the perestroika era with a Russian version of Wheel of Fortune, Polye Chudes (Field Of Wonder).

However, if you tell Russians Polye Chudes is a remake of the American one, where the aim is to simply make money, you would hurt their best feelings.

In the Russian game show, players often prefer prizes -- valued as souvenirs -- to profit. One competitor, when offered 500,000 Roubles or a (mystery) prize, took the prize. It was a beetroot.

The host thought it was the most expensive beetroot he'd ever heard of. Perhaps he just needs to give the rouble a few more months.

Polye Chudes has been Russia's highest rating show for years. Last year was no exception.

Foreign shows like 90210 have taken the place of Russian old cartoons, which showed on NTV for all last year.

This saddens me. I admired and enjoyed the cartoons so much for their pure and uncommercial nature. They were full of magic and simply beautifully-drawn.

It is too awful that the new "Pepsi" generation will grow up watching only American shows and cartoons, falling in love with their characters and lives they live, thinking that if their country is not able to do something of its own, then they want to live in America. Many youngsters already do so.

I can see a dramatic change in the behaviour of teenagers from people like me who grew up in the Pioneers spirit.

Last year there were hundreds of false and real bomb scares at secondary schools in Moscow and St Petersburg, simply because the students wanted to play hooky. I am not saying this is a result of American television and movies, but it is a result of something.

But there are positives to this invasion. The foreign shows could motivate our youth to change things around them for the better.

Shows like 90210 also have value because they help teens by raising problems concerning drugs, alcohol, early pregnancy and other things adults often forget to tell them about. Until now local TV ignored this category of viewers, focusing on either children or adults.

Despite the loss of my beloved cartoons, I do have a soft spot for many American shows, and am only too happy to have them here. I just don't want Russia to lose its traditions, jokes, and time-worn phrases from old movies.

Just now though a series of anecdotes about Snickers, Bounty and Twix commercials, Polye Chudes and a stupid trio of a Russian, a German and an American prevail in the local folklore.