Te moni or the bag

Pio Terei and Stacey Morrison host the updated, bilingual version of It's In The Bag. Photo / Supplied

Maori Television is hoping the reo version of "the money or the bag?" - "te moni, te peke ranei?" - will become as memorable as the immortal words first uttered by Selwyn Toogood on radio in the 1950s.

The bilingual version of It's In The Bag, which went on to become a fixture on New Zealand television in the 70s and 80s, hits our screens tonight, evoking memories for thousands of people of a certain age who used to crowd around TVs of an evening, yelling "the bag, the bag!"

With Pio Terei and Stacey Morrison replacing Toogood and assistant Teneke Stephenson, the show sticks to the tried and tested formula of visiting small towns to bring a bit of game-show glamour to the provinces.

"Filming in places like Bulls, Levin, Foxton and Shannon was an great experience," says Terei. "There's a real energy in those areas, that was proven by the fun we had. They appreciated us coming and putting on a show. "What you are seeing is real people on TV and people love that."

Producer Libby Hakaraia from Blue Bach Productions, grew up watching It's In The Bag with her family, although when she had the idea of resurrecting the show she didn't quite know where to start. "People said we would never get the rights," she recalls. She went first to TVNZ and they directed her to the Toogood family. Hakaraia pitched the idea to Toogood's son Kit, whose initial fears of watering down his father's famous legacy were assuaged. "He loved it," says Hakaraia. "In fact, there were no dissenters, other than trying to find sponsorship when no one has any money!"

Hakaraia said she and the Toogood family felt it was important that people didn't feel marginalised, so the show is split evenly into English and Maori, with competitors able to converse in the language of their choice. Presenters Terei and Morrison effortlessly switch between the two.

Morrison, who appears especially comfortable in te reo, says she still gets nervous about how people will judge her fluency. She didn't grow up with the language and only picked it up in recent years. "I felt alienated because I couldn't speak the language for so long. But that's what is so cool about this show. It's showing how naturally the Maori language is sitting in most places."

Indeed, Morrison says, during filming in one town she heard someone speaking Maori and looked up to see a red-haired woman, who turned out to be an immigrant who had decided to learn the language of her adopted country. "That gave me goosebumps. It made me realise some things have changed. Those sorts of things were real gems."

One thing that hasn't changed over the years is the effect the show has when it turns up in small towns. Morrison recalls watching the show as a child, but admits it's a blur whether it was Toogood or later presenter John Hawkesby she remembers posing the catchphrases.

"This show is something people hold dear to their hearts. In Auckland and in TV and media circles it can get a bit insular. People stop listening to their cousins and friends who don't live in that bubble. [But] those little halls we went to resonate with all the things which have gone on."

Another thing which remains unaltered from the original is the soft nature of the quiz. When a contestant is stumped by a question about the name of a horse depicted in a statue outside Bulls, Terei prompts: "Give us your bess guess - your BESS guess." Who Wants to be a Millionaire this ain't.

Terei laughs. "These are small towns, bro. If they didn't get the answers we'd run out of competitors." Also, as Terei points out, it's not the winning that counts but the taking part.

"We had one of the old kuia, the old ladies, and there was no way she was going to take the money. She was a punter, a gambler, and she ended up winning a potato peeler. Everyone was really sad for her, but she was really pleased. She said: 'I'll take this down to the bowling club and talk about it for years!"'