It's "Mister Ed", but not as we know him

The famous English-speaking palomino that entertained generations of children is back in New Zealand homes, but there is one important difference: gone is his laid-back American drawl, replaced by a Maori voice-over.

You might think this would be a problem for a horse living in the United States but, fortunately for Mister Ed, his owner, Wilbur, speaks Maori, too. In fact, the entire cast is Maori-speaking.

I must confess I was in the mood for a little nostalgia when I noticed Mister Ed listed in a regular time slot on New Zealand's Maori TV channel.

I duly tuned in to watch Mister Ed give Wilbur his customary hard time, only to discover that the horse had been upskilling during his absence from our screens.

Unfortunately, being a little short on the bilingual front myself, Mister Ed's utterances remain to this day a total mystery.

Perhaps I should suggest English sub-titles.

For the record, the English version of Mister Ed screened in the US in the early to mid 1960s. The show screened for six seasons and 144 episodes. The famous theme song was sung by Jay Livingston and the music written by Jack Cookerly and Dave Kahn.

The star of the show was a palomino gelding named Bamboo Harvester and his English voice was that of Allan Lane. Mister Ed would only talk to Wilbur and he was a notorious trouble-maker.

Bamboo Harvester was a saddlebred-arabian cross, and was a show and parade horse before starring on TV. He was euthanised in 1968 at the age of 19 because of several health problems, including arthritis. His TV double was a horse named Pumpkin.