diff --git a/cluster/vagrant/util.sh b/cluster/vagrant/util.sh
index c3c7774f0b9..c676782660d 100644
--- a/cluster/vagrant/util.sh
+++ b/cluster/vagrant/util.sh
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ function kube-up {
     local count="0"
     until [[ "$count" == "1" ]]; do
       local minions
-      minions=$("${KUBE_ROOT}/cluster/kubecfg.sh" -template '{{range.Items}}{{.Name}}:{{end}}' list minions)
+      minions=$("${KUBE_ROOT}/cluster/kubecfg.sh" -template '{{range.items}}{{.id}}:{{end}}' list minions)
       count=$(echo $minions | grep -c "${MINION_NAMES[i]}") || {
         printf "."
         sleep 2
diff --git a/cluster/validate-cluster.sh b/cluster/validate-cluster.sh
index 82cca633d6d..fc5b151b128 100755
--- a/cluster/validate-cluster.sh
+++ b/cluster/validate-cluster.sh
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ detect-master > /dev/null
 detect-minions > /dev/null
 
 MINIONS_FILE=/tmp/minions
-"${KUBE_ROOT}/cluster/kubecfg.sh" -template $'{{range.Items}}{{.Name}}\n{{end}}' list minions > ${MINIONS_FILE}
+"${KUBE_ROOT}/cluster/kubecfg.sh" -template $'{{range.items}}{{.id}}\n{{end}}' list minions > ${MINIONS_FILE}
 
 # On vSphere, use minion IPs as their names
 if [[ "${KUBERNETES_PROVIDER}" == "vsphere" ]]; then
diff --git a/cmd/kubecfg/kubecfg.go b/cmd/kubecfg/kubecfg.go
index 936df408aa1..8f97cdf05ad 100644
--- a/cmd/kubecfg/kubecfg.go
+++ b/cmd/kubecfg/kubecfg.go
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ import (
 	"sort"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
-	"text/template"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/api"
@@ -324,14 +323,12 @@ func getPrinter() kubecfg.ResourcePrinter {
 		} else {
 			data = []byte(*templateStr)
 		}
-		tmpl, err := template.New("output").Parse(string(data))
+		var err error
+		printer, err = kubecfg.NewTemplatePrinter(data)
 		if err != nil {
-			glog.Fatalf("Error parsing template %s, %v\n", string(data), err)
+			glog.Fatalf("Error '%v' parsing template:\n'%s'", err, string(data))
 			return nil
 		}
-		printer = &kubecfg.TemplatePrinter{
-			Template: tmpl,
-		}
 	default:
 		printer = humanReadablePrinter()
 	}
diff --git a/hack/e2e-suite/basic.sh b/hack/e2e-suite/basic.sh
index 1f2d95507c7..3295967c000 100755
--- a/hack/e2e-suite/basic.sh
+++ b/hack/e2e-suite/basic.sh
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ function teardown() {
 
 trap "teardown" EXIT
 
-pod_id_list=$($KUBECFG '-template={{range.Items}}{{.Name}} {{end}}' -l replicationController=my-hostname list pods)
+pod_id_list=$($KUBECFG '-template={{range.items}}{{.id}} {{end}}' -l replicationController=my-hostname list pods)
 # Pod turn up on a clean cluster can take a while for the docker image pull.
 all_running=0
 for i in $(seq 1 24); do
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ for i in $(seq 1 24); do
   sleep 5
   all_running=1
   for id in $pod_id_list; do
-    current_status=$($KUBECFG -template '{{.CurrentState.Status}}' get pods/$id) || true
+    current_status=$($KUBECFG -template '{{.currentState.status}}' get pods/$id) || true
     if [[ "$current_status" != "Running" ]]; then
       all_running=0
       break
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ sleep 5
 
 # Verify that something is listening.
 for id in ${pod_id_list}; do
-  ip=$($KUBECFG -template '{{.CurrentState.HostIP}}' get pods/$id)
+  ip=$($KUBECFG -template '{{.currentState.hostIP}}' get pods/$id)
   echo "Trying to reach server that should be running at ${ip}:8080..."
   ok=0
   for i in $(seq 1 5); do
diff --git a/hack/e2e-suite/guestbook.sh b/hack/e2e-suite/guestbook.sh
index 1ffc256ca42..c70969d688b 100755
--- a/hack/e2e-suite/guestbook.sh
+++ b/hack/e2e-suite/guestbook.sh
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ $KUBECFG -c "${GUESTBOOK}/redis-slave-controller.json" create /replicationContro
 
 sleep 5
 
-POD_LIST_1=$($KUBECFG '-template={{range.Items}}{{.Name}} {{end}}' list pods)
+POD_LIST_1=$($KUBECFG '-template={{range.items}}{{.id}} {{end}}' list pods)
 echo "Pods running: ${POD_LIST_1}"
 
 $KUBECFG stop redisSlaveController
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ $KUBECFG rm redisSlaveController
 $KUBECFG delete services/redismaster
 $KUBECFG delete pods/redis-master-2
 
-POD_LIST_2=$($KUBECFG '-template={{range.Items}}{{.Name}} {{end}}' list pods)
+POD_LIST_2=$($KUBECFG '-template={{range.items}}{{.id}} {{end}}' list pods)
 echo "Pods running after shutdown: ${POD_LIST_2}"
 
 exit 0
diff --git a/hack/e2e-suite/services.sh b/hack/e2e-suite/services.sh
index 2750f1c6568..f4afc28656b 100755
--- a/hack/e2e-suite/services.sh
+++ b/hack/e2e-suite/services.sh
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ function query_pods() {
   local i
   for i in $(seq 1 10); do
     pods_unsorted=($(${KUBECFG} \
-        '-template={{range.Items}}{{.Name}} {{end}}' \
+        '-template={{range.items}}{{.id}} {{end}}' \
         -l name="$1" list pods))
     found="${#pods_unsorted[*]}"
     if [[ "${found}" == "$2" ]]; then
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ function wait_for_pods() {
     echo "Waiting for ${pods_needed} pods to become 'running'"
     pods_needed="$2"
     for id in ${pods_sorted}; do
-      status=$(${KUBECFG} -template '{{.CurrentState.Status}}' get "pods/${id}")
+      status=$(${KUBECFG} -template '{{.currentState.status}}' get "pods/${id}")
       if [[ "${status}" == "Running" ]]; then
         pods_needed=$((pods_needed-1))
       fi
@@ -213,9 +213,9 @@ svc1_pods=$(query_pods "${svc1_name}" "${svc1_count}")
 svc2_pods=$(query_pods "${svc2_name}" "${svc2_count}")
 
 # Get the portal IPs.
-svc1_ip=$(${KUBECFG} -template '{{.PortalIP}}' get "services/${svc1_name}")
+svc1_ip=$(${KUBECFG} -template '{{.portalIP}}' get "services/${svc1_name}")
 test -n "${svc1_ip}" || error "Service1 IP is blank"
-svc2_ip=$(${KUBECFG} -template '{{.PortalIP}}' get "services/${svc2_name}")
+svc2_ip=$(${KUBECFG} -template '{{.portalIP}}' get "services/${svc2_name}")
 test -n "${svc2_ip}" || error "Service2 IP is blank"
 if [[ "${svc1_ip}" == "${svc2_ip}" ]]; then
   error "Portal IPs conflict: ${svc1_ip}"
@@ -272,7 +272,7 @@ wait_for_pods "${svc3_name}" "${svc3_count}"
 svc3_pods=$(query_pods "${svc3_name}" "${svc3_count}")
 
 # Get the portal IP.
-svc3_ip=$(${KUBECFG} -template '{{.PortalIP}}' get "services/${svc3_name}")
+svc3_ip=$(${KUBECFG} -template '{{.portalIP}}' get "services/${svc3_name}")
 test -n "${svc3_ip}" || error "Service3 IP is blank"
 if [[ "${svc3_ip}" != "${svc1_ip}" ]]; then
   error "Portal IPs not resued: ${svc3_ip} != ${svc1_ip}"
@@ -325,7 +325,7 @@ wait_for_pods "${svc4_name}" "${svc4_count}"
 svc4_pods=$(query_pods "${svc4_name}" "${svc4_count}")
 
 # Get the portal IP.
-svc4_ip=$(${KUBECFG} -template '{{.PortalIP}}' get "services/${svc4_name}")
+svc4_ip=$(${KUBECFG} -template '{{.portalIP}}' get "services/${svc4_name}")
 test -n "${svc4_ip}" || error "Service4 IP is blank"
 if [[ "${svc4_ip}" == "${svc2_ip}" || "${svc4_ip}" == "${svc3_ip}" ]]; then
   error "Portal IPs conflict: ${svc4_ip}"
diff --git a/hack/e2e-suite/update.sh b/hack/e2e-suite/update.sh
index d9263bb0596..9930dbc4e15 100755
--- a/hack/e2e-suite/update.sh
+++ b/hack/e2e-suite/update.sh
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ function validate() {
     sleep 2
 
     local pod_id_list
-    pod_id_list=($($KUBECFG -template='{{range.Items}}{{.Name}} {{end}}' -l name="${CONTROLLER_NAME}" list pods))
+    pod_id_list=($($KUBECFG -template='{{range.items}}{{.id}} {{end}}' -l name="${CONTROLLER_NAME}" list pods))
 
     echo "  ${#pod_id_list[@]} out of ${num_replicas} created"
 
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ function validate() {
       # currently always set to a zero time.
       #
       # You can read about the syntax here: http://golang.org/pkg/text/template/
-      template_string="{{and ((index .CurrentState.Info \"${CONTROLLER_NAME}\").State.Running) .CurrentState.Info.net.State.Running}}"
+      template_string="{{and ((index .currentState.info \"${CONTROLLER_NAME}\").state.running.startedAt) .currentState.info.net.state.running.startedAt}}"
       current_status=$($KUBECFG -template="${template_string}" get "pods/$id") || {
         if [[ $current_status =~ "pod \"${id}\" not found" ]]; then
           echo "  $id no longer exists"
@@ -73,12 +73,12 @@ function validate() {
         fi
       }
 
-      if [[ "$current_status" != "{0001-01-01 00:00:00 +0000 UTC}" ]]; then
+      if [[ "$current_status" != "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z" ]]; then
         echo "  $id is created but not running"
         continue
       fi
 
-      template_string="{{(index .CurrentState.Info \"${CONTROLLER_NAME}\").Image}}"
+      template_string="{{(index .currentState.info \"${CONTROLLER_NAME}\").image}}"
       current_image=$($KUBECFG -template="${template_string}" get "pods/$id")
       if [[ "$current_image" != "${DOCKER_HUB_USER}/update-demo:${container_image_version}" ]]; then
         echo "  ${id} is created but running wrong image"
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ function validate() {
       fi
 
 
-      host_ip=$($KUBECFG -template='{{.CurrentState.HostIP}}' get pods/$id)
+      host_ip=$($KUBECFG -template='{{.currentState.hostIP}}' get pods/$id)
       curl -s --max-time 5 --fail http://${host_ip}:8080/data.json \
           | grep -q ${container_image_version} || {
         echo "  ${id} is running the right image but curl to contents failed or returned wrong info"
diff --git a/hack/e2e.go b/hack/e2e.go
index a6d708ac031..71fdce49c3d 100644
--- a/hack/e2e.go
+++ b/hack/e2e.go
@@ -40,6 +40,9 @@ var (
 	tests   = flag.String("tests", "", "Run only tests in hack/e2e-suite matching this glob. Ignored if -test is set.")
 	root    = flag.String("root", absOrDie(filepath.Clean(filepath.Join(path.Base(os.Args[0]), ".."))), "Root directory of kubernetes repository.")
 	verbose = flag.Bool("v", false, "If true, print all command output.")
+
+	cfgCmd = flag.String("cfg", "", "If nonempty, pass this as an argument, and call kubecfg. Implies -v.")
+	ctlCmd = flag.String("ctl", "", "If nonempty, pass this as an argument, and call kubectl. Implies -v. (-test, -cfg, -ctl are mutually exclusive)")
 )
 
 var signals = make(chan os.Signal, 100)
@@ -87,18 +90,24 @@ func main() {
 		}
 	}
 
-	failed, passed := []string{}, []string{}
-	if *tests != "" {
-		failed, passed = Test()
+	failure := false
+	switch {
+	case *cfgCmd != "":
+		failure = !runBash("'kubecfg "+*cfgCmd+"'", "$KUBECFG "+*cfgCmd)
+	case *ctlCmd != "":
+		failure = !runBash("'kubectl "+*ctlCmd+"'", "$KUBECFG "+*ctlCmd)
+	case *tests != "":
+		failed, passed := Test()
+		log.Printf("Passed tests: %v", passed)
+		log.Printf("Failed tests: %v", failed)
+		failure = len(failed) > 0
 	}
 
 	if *down {
 		TearDown()
 	}
 
-	log.Printf("Passed tests: %v", passed)
-	log.Printf("Failed tests: %v", failed)
-	if len(failed) > 0 {
+	if failure {
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/hack/test-cmd.sh b/hack/test-cmd.sh
index 5c1d9db3b8c..e2cb665f6ac 100755
--- a/hack/test-cmd.sh
+++ b/hack/test-cmd.sh
@@ -100,12 +100,12 @@ kube::log::status "Testing kubectl(pods)"
 "${kube_cmd[@]}" create -f examples/guestbook/redis-master.json "${kube_flags[@]}"
 "${kube_cmd[@]}" get pods "${kube_flags[@]}"
 "${kube_cmd[@]}" get pod redis-master-2 "${kube_flags[@]}"
-[[ "$("${kube_cmd[@]}" get pod redis-master-2 -o template --output-version=v1beta1 -t '{{ .ID }}' "${kube_flags[@]}")" == "redis-master-2" ]]
+[[ "$("${kube_cmd[@]}" get pod redis-master-2 -o template --output-version=v1beta1 -t '{{ .id }}' "${kube_flags[@]}")" == "redis-master-2" ]]
 output_pod=$("${kube_cmd[@]}" get pod redis-master-2 -o json --output-version=v1beta1 "${kube_flags[@]}")
 "${kube_cmd[@]}" delete pod redis-master-2 "${kube_flags[@]}"
-[[ $("${kube_cmd[@]}" get pods -o template -t '{{ len .Items }}' "${kube_flags[@]}") -eq 0 ]]
+[[ $("${kube_cmd[@]}" get pods -o template -t '{{ len .items }}' "${kube_flags[@]}") -eq 0 ]]
 echo $output_pod | "${kube_cmd[@]}" create -f - "${kube_flags[@]}"
-[[ $("${kube_cmd[@]}" get pods -o template -t '{{ len .Items }}' "${kube_flags[@]}") -eq 1 ]]
+[[ $("${kube_cmd[@]}" get pods -o template -t '{{ len .items }}' "${kube_flags[@]}") -eq 1 ]]
 "${kube_cmd[@]}" get pods -o yaml "${kube_flags[@]}" | grep -q "id: redis-master-2"
 "${kube_cmd[@]}" describe pod redis-master-2 "${kube_flags[@]}" | grep -q 'Name:.*redis-master-2'
 "${kube_cmd[@]}" delete -f examples/guestbook/redis-master.json "${kube_flags[@]}"
diff --git a/pkg/kubecfg/resource_printer.go b/pkg/kubecfg/resource_printer.go
index 048e0327a9d..64ce0915d72 100644
--- a/pkg/kubecfg/resource_printer.go
+++ b/pkg/kubecfg/resource_printer.go
@@ -319,19 +319,32 @@ func (h *HumanReadablePrinter) PrintObj(obj runtime.Object, output io.Writer) er
 
 // TemplatePrinter is an implementation of ResourcePrinter which formats data with a Go Template.
 type TemplatePrinter struct {
-	Template *template.Template
+	template *template.Template
+}
+
+func NewTemplatePrinter(tmpl []byte) (*TemplatePrinter, error) {
+	t, err := template.New("output").Parse(string(tmpl))
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return &TemplatePrinter{t}, nil
 }
 
 // Print parses the data as JSON, and re-formats it with the Go Template.
 func (t *TemplatePrinter) Print(data []byte, w io.Writer) error {
-	obj, err := latest.Codec.Decode(data)
+	obj := map[string]interface{}{}
+	err := json.Unmarshal(data, &obj)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	return t.PrintObj(obj, w)
+	return t.template.Execute(w, obj)
 }
 
 // PrintObj formats the obj with the Go Template.
 func (t *TemplatePrinter) PrintObj(obj runtime.Object, w io.Writer) error {
-	return t.Template.Execute(w, obj)
+	data, err := latest.Codec.Encode(obj)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return t.Print(data, w)
 }
diff --git a/pkg/kubecfg/resource_printer_test.go b/pkg/kubecfg/resource_printer_test.go
index 2e05228af89..ef16bdc0884 100644
--- a/pkg/kubecfg/resource_printer_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubecfg/resource_printer_test.go
@@ -161,3 +161,19 @@ func TestUnknownTypePrinting(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("An error was expected from printing unknown type")
 	}
 }
+
+func TestTemplateEmitsVersionedObjects(t *testing.T) {
+	// kind is always blank in memory and set on the wire
+	printer, err := NewTemplatePrinter([]byte(`{{.kind}}`))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("tmpl fail: %v", err)
+	}
+	buffer := &bytes.Buffer{}
+	err = printer.PrintObj(&api.Pod{}, buffer)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("print fail: %v", err)
+	}
+	if e, a := "Pod", string(buffer.Bytes()); e != a {
+		t.Errorf("Expected %v, got %v", e, a)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/resource_printer.go b/pkg/kubectl/resource_printer.go
index ab95e5adb72..1fa60a51dd2 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/resource_printer.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/resource_printer.go
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import (
 	"text/template"
 
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/api"
+	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/api/latest"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/labels"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/runtime"
 	"github.com/golang/glog"
@@ -45,35 +46,26 @@ func GetPrinter(format, templateFile string, defaultPrinter ResourcePrinter) (Re
 	case "yaml":
 		printer = &YAMLPrinter{}
 	case "template":
-		var data []byte
 		if len(templateFile) == 0 {
 			return nil, false, fmt.Errorf("template format specified but no template given")
 		}
-		tmpl, err := template.New("output").Parse(templateFile)
+		var err error
+		printer, err = NewTemplatePrinter([]byte(templateFile))
 		if err != nil {
-			return nil, false, fmt.Errorf("error parsing template %s, %v\n", string(data), err)
-		}
-		printer = &TemplatePrinter{
-			Template: tmpl,
+			return nil, false, fmt.Errorf("error parsing template %s, %v\n", templateFile, err)
 		}
 	case "templatefile":
-		var data []byte
-		if len(templateFile) > 0 {
-			var err error
-			data, err = ioutil.ReadFile(templateFile)
-			if err != nil {
-				return nil, false, fmt.Errorf("error reading template %s, %v\n", templateFile, err)
-			}
-		} else {
+		if len(templateFile) == 0 {
 			return nil, false, fmt.Errorf("templatefile format specified but no template file given")
 		}
-		tmpl, err := template.New("output").Parse(string(data))
+		data, err := ioutil.ReadFile(templateFile)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, false, fmt.Errorf("error reading template %s, %v\n", templateFile, err)
+		}
+		printer, err = NewTemplatePrinter(data)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, false, fmt.Errorf("error parsing template %s, %v\n", string(data), err)
 		}
-		printer = &TemplatePrinter{
-			Template: tmpl,
-		}
 	case "":
 		printer = defaultPrinter
 		versioned = false
@@ -323,12 +315,29 @@ func (h *HumanReadablePrinter) PrintObj(obj runtime.Object, output io.Writer) er
 
 // TemplatePrinter is an implementation of ResourcePrinter which formats data with a Go Template.
 type TemplatePrinter struct {
-	Template *template.Template
+	template *template.Template
+}
+
+func NewTemplatePrinter(tmpl []byte) (*TemplatePrinter, error) {
+	t, err := template.New("output").Parse(string(tmpl))
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return &TemplatePrinter{t}, nil
 }
 
 // PrintObj formats the obj with the Go Template.
 func (t *TemplatePrinter) PrintObj(obj runtime.Object, w io.Writer) error {
-	return t.Template.Execute(w, obj)
+	data, err := latest.Codec.Encode(obj)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	outObj := map[string]interface{}{}
+	err = json.Unmarshal(data, &outObj)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return t.template.Execute(w, outObj)
 }
 
 func tabbedString(f func(*tabwriter.Writer) error) (string, error) {
diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/resource_printer_test.go b/pkg/kubectl/resource_printer_test.go
index 5cf4aacee00..fc7c6b6bd8d 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/resource_printer_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/resource_printer_test.go
@@ -86,14 +86,17 @@ func TestPrintYAML(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestPrintTemplate(t *testing.T) {
 	buf := bytes.NewBuffer([]byte{})
-	printer, versioned, err := GetPrinter("template", "{{ .Name }}", nil)
+	printer, versioned, err := GetPrinter("template", "{{.id}}", nil)
 	if err != nil {
-		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %#v", err)
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %#v", err)
 	}
 	if !versioned {
 		t.Errorf("printer should be versioned")
 	}
-	printer.PrintObj(&api.Pod{ObjectMeta: api.ObjectMeta{Name: "foo"}}, buf)
+	err = printer.PrintObj(&api.Pod{ObjectMeta: api.ObjectMeta{Name: "foo"}}, buf)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %#v", err)
+	}
 	if buf.String() != "foo" {
 		t.Errorf("unexpected output: %s", buf.String())
 	}
@@ -204,3 +207,19 @@ func TestUnknownTypePrinting(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("An error was expected from printing unknown type")
 	}
 }
+
+func TestTemplateEmitsVersionedObjects(t *testing.T) {
+	// kind is always blank in memory and set on the wire
+	printer, err := NewTemplatePrinter([]byte(`{{.kind}}`))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("tmpl fail: %v", err)
+	}
+	buffer := &bytes.Buffer{}
+	err = printer.PrintObj(&api.Pod{}, buffer)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("print fail: %v", err)
+	}
+	if e, a := "Pod", string(buffer.Bytes()); e != a {
+		t.Errorf("Expected %v, got %v", e, a)
+	}
+}