Iconic quiz show given a new twist

Bilingual reality TV has hit Wairarapa with a double whammy and will leave no losers in its wake, says veteran broadcaster Tainui Stephens.

Two episodes were shot in the region last week of the top-rating Maori TV show, It's In The Bag, and two shows also were filmed by the same touring crew of 33 members of My Country Song, which will premiere on Maori TV in April.

Mr Stephens, Te Rarawa, directs the 30-minute It's In The Bag shows, of which his partner Libby Hakaraia, Ngati Raukawa, is producer.

He also produces alongside his partner the hour-long music show, which is co-hosted by Dennis Marsh, Maniapoto, and Saelyn Guyton, Ngai Tahu.

Independent television production company Blue Bach Productions revived the iconic and long-running Kiwi quiz show created by the late Selwyn Toogood that initially began as a radio show in the 1950s.

Mr Stephens said his partner had won the blessing of the Toogood family for the "bilingual, bi-cultural and inclusive show shot in a smalltown setting" and Masterton is the 12th and final heats episode of the fifth season of the show, which will have a grand final in Rotorua in April or May.

He said shooting for the quiz show was last week completed at Tararua College in Pahiatua and at Wairarapa College in Masterton, after which the music show was in turn shot at each location the next evening.

Entry to the quiz show is by koha, which is passed on to a local charity. The show features an entrant drawn at random who plays for the contents of one of the bags, or kete, and comes away with cash, a genuine prize drawn from a pool worth $50,000, or a booby prize.

Mr Stephens said the crew shoots an episode of each of the two shows every couple of days. Close working and "whanau" relationships are encouraged among the crew members.

He had generated the idea for the music show, he said, which plays to "an under-served country music constituency and kaupapa".

He said that in contrast to the quiz show, there is no audience involvement with the music show, although a third of the 144 songs that will feature during its 13-episode inaugural season will be Maori language renditions.

"The eight performers will sing their songs and tell their stories. We encourage original music and it could be an 11-year-old singing about their best friend or about bullies. They are uniformly good and at times can be electrifying.

"It's in the Bag gives us a day of fun when we're filming then we do My Country Song and it can be very moving and can become a day of tears. But with both shows there are no losers, there are never any losers."