diff --git a/IPython/config/profile/default/ipcluster_config.py b/IPython/config/profile/default/ipcluster_config.py
index f0c248e..d345fd0 100644
--- a/IPython/config/profile/default/ipcluster_config.py
+++ b/IPython/config/profile/default/ipcluster_config.py
@@ -121,12 +121,12 @@ c = get_config()
 # in the location specified by the --cluster_dir argument.
 # c.SSHControllerLauncher.program_args = ['-r', '-ip', '0.0.0.0', '--cluster_dir', '/path/to/cd']
 
-# Set the default args passed to ipenginez for SSH launched engines
+# Set the default args passed to ipengine for SSH launched engines
 # c.SSHEngineSetLauncher.engine_args = ['--mpi', 'mpi4py']
 
 # SSH engines are launched as a dict of locations/n-engines.
 # if a value is a tuple instead of an int, it is assumed to be of the form
-# (n, [args]), setting the arguments to passed to ipenginez on `host`.
+# (n, [args]), setting the arguments to passed to ipengine on `host`.
 # otherwise, c.SSHEngineSetLauncher.engine_args will be used as the default.
 
 # In this case, there will be 3 engines at my.example.com, and
@@ -162,13 +162,13 @@ c = get_config()
 
 # The batch submission script used to start the controller. This is where
 # environment variables would be setup, etc. This string is interpreted using
-# the Itpl module in IPython.external. Basically, you can use ${n} for the
-# number of engine and ${cluster_dir} for the cluster_dir.
+# Python's string formatting. Basically, you can use {queue} for the name
+# of the PBS queue, and {profile_dir} for the profile_dir.
 # c.PBSControllerLauncher.batch_template = """
 # #PBS -N ipcontroller
-# #PBS -q $queue
+# #PBS -q {queue}
 # 
-# ipcontrollerz --cluster-dir $cluster_dir
+# ipcontroller profile_dir={profile_dir}
 # """
 
 # You can also load this template from a file
@@ -180,13 +180,14 @@ c = get_config()
 
 # The batch submission script used to start the engines. This is where
 # environment variables would be setup, etc. This string is interpreted using
-# the Itpl module in IPython.external. Basically, you can use ${n} for the
-# number of engine and ${cluster_dir} for the cluster_dir.
+# Python's string formatting. Basically, you can use {queue} for the name
+# of the PBS queue, and {profile_dir} for the profile_dir, and {n}
+# for the number of engines.
 # c.PBSEngineSetLauncher.batch_template = """
-# #PBS -N ipcontroller
-# #PBS -l nprocs=$n
+# #PBS -N ipengine
+# #PBS -l nprocs={n}
 # 
-# ipenginez --cluster-dir $cluster_dir$s
+# ipengine profile_dir={profile_dir}
 # """
 
 # You can also load this template from a file
@@ -211,7 +212,7 @@ c = get_config()
 
 # c.IPControllerTask.task_name = 'IPController'
 # c.IPControllerTask.controller_cmd = [u'ipcontroller.exe']
-# c.IPControllerTask.controller_args = ['--log-to-file', '--log-level', '40']
+# c.IPControllerTask.controller_args = ['--log-to-file', 'log_level=40']
 # c.IPControllerTask.environment_variables = {}
 
 # c.WindowsHPCControllerLauncher.scheduler = 'HEADNODE'
@@ -227,7 +228,7 @@ c = get_config()
 
 # c.IPEngineTask.task_name = 'IPEngine'
 # c.IPEngineTask.engine_cmd = [u'ipengine.exe']
-# c.IPEngineTask.engine_args = ['--log-to-file', '--log-level', '40']
+# c.IPEngineTask.engine_args = ['--log-to-file', 'log_level=40']
 # c.IPEngineTask.environment_variables = {}
 
 # c.WindowsHPCEngineSetLauncher.scheduler = 'HEADNODE'
diff --git a/IPython/parallel/apps/launcher.py b/IPython/parallel/apps/launcher.py
index 3f5ccb7..4039cd4 100644
--- a/IPython/parallel/apps/launcher.py
+++ b/IPython/parallel/apps/launcher.py
@@ -49,7 +49,6 @@ except ImportError:
 
 from zmq.eventloop import ioloop
 
-from IPython.external import Itpl
 # from IPython.config.configurable import Configurable
 from IPython.utils.traitlets import Any, Int, List, Unicode, Dict, Instance
 from IPython.utils.path import get_ipython_module_path
@@ -805,8 +804,8 @@ class BatchSystemLauncher(BaseLauncher):
 
     This class also has the notion of a batch script. The ``batch_template``
     attribute can be set to a string that is a template for the batch script.
-    This template is instantiated using Itpl. Thus the template can use
-    ${n} fot the number of instances. Subclasses can add additional variables
+    This template is instantiated using string formatting. Thus the template can
+    use {n} fot the number of instances. Subclasses can add additional variables
     to the template dict.
     """
 
@@ -866,7 +865,6 @@ class BatchSystemLauncher(BaseLauncher):
         """Instantiate and write the batch script to the work_dir."""
         self.context['n'] = n
         self.context['queue'] = self.queue
-        print self.context
         # first priority is batch_template if set
         if self.batch_template_file and not self.batch_template:
             # second priority is batch_template_file
@@ -890,7 +888,7 @@ class BatchSystemLauncher(BaseLauncher):
             firstline, rest = self.batch_template.split('\n',1)
             self.batch_template = u'\n'.join([firstline, self.queue_template, rest])
             
-        script_as_string = Itpl.itplns(self.batch_template, self.context)
+        script_as_string = self.batch_template.format(**self.context)
         self.log.info('Writing instantiated batch script: %s' % self.batch_file)
     
         with open(self.batch_file, 'w') as f:
@@ -899,9 +897,8 @@ class BatchSystemLauncher(BaseLauncher):
 
     def start(self, n, profile_dir):
         """Start n copies of the process using a batch system."""
-        # Here we save profile and profile_dir in the context so they
-        # can be used in the batch script template as ${profile} and
-        # ${profile_dir}
+        # Here we save profile_dir in the context so they
+        # can be used in the batch script template as {profile_dir}
         self.context['profile_dir'] = profile_dir
         self.profile_dir = unicode(profile_dir)
         self.write_batch_script(n)
@@ -929,9 +926,9 @@ class PBSLauncher(BatchSystemLauncher):
     
     batch_file = Unicode(u'')
     job_array_regexp = Unicode('#PBS\W+-t\W+[\w\d\-\$]+')
-    job_array_template = Unicode('#PBS -t 1-$n')
+    job_array_template = Unicode('#PBS -t 1-{n}')
     queue_regexp = Unicode('#PBS\W+-q\W+\$?\w+')
-    queue_template = Unicode('#PBS -q $queue')
+    queue_template = Unicode('#PBS -q {queue}')
 
 
 class PBSControllerLauncher(PBSLauncher):
@@ -942,7 +939,7 @@ class PBSControllerLauncher(PBSLauncher):
     default_template= Unicode("""#!/bin/sh
 #PBS -V
 #PBS -N ipcontroller
-%s --log-to-file profile_dir $profile_dir
+%s --log-to-file profile_dir={profile_dir}
 """%(' '.join(ipcontroller_cmd_argv)))
 
     def start(self, profile_dir):
@@ -958,7 +955,7 @@ class PBSEngineSetLauncher(PBSLauncher):
     default_template= Unicode(u"""#!/bin/sh
 #PBS -V
 #PBS -N ipengine
-%s profile_dir $profile_dir
+%s profile_dir={profile_dir}
 """%(' '.join(ipengine_cmd_argv)))
 
     def start(self, n, profile_dir):
@@ -970,20 +967,20 @@ class PBSEngineSetLauncher(PBSLauncher):
 
 class SGELauncher(PBSLauncher):
     """Sun GridEngine is a PBS clone with slightly different syntax"""
-    job_array_regexp = Unicode('#\$\$\W+\-t')
-    job_array_template = Unicode('#$$ -t 1-$n')
-    queue_regexp = Unicode('#$$\W+-q\W+\$?\w+')
-    queue_template = Unicode('#$$ -q $queue')
+    job_array_regexp = Unicode('#\$\W+\-t')
+    job_array_template = Unicode('#$ -t 1-{n}')
+    queue_regexp = Unicode('#\$\W+-q\W+\$?\w+')
+    queue_template = Unicode('#$ -q $queue')
 
 class SGEControllerLauncher(SGELauncher):
     """Launch a controller using SGE."""
 
     batch_file_name = Unicode(u'sge_controller', config=True,
         help="batch file name for the ipontroller job.")
-    default_template= Unicode(u"""#$$ -V
-#$$ -S /bin/sh
-#$$ -N ipcontroller
-%s --log-to-file profile_dir=$profile_dir
+    default_template= Unicode(u"""#$ -V
+#$ -S /bin/sh
+#$ -N ipcontroller
+%s --log-to-file profile_dir={profile_dir}
 """%(' '.join(ipcontroller_cmd_argv)))
 
     def start(self, profile_dir):
@@ -995,10 +992,10 @@ class SGEEngineSetLauncher(SGELauncher):
     """Launch Engines with SGE"""
     batch_file_name = Unicode(u'sge_engines', config=True,
         help="batch file name for the engine(s) job.")
-    default_template = Unicode("""#$$ -V
-#$$ -S /bin/sh
-#$$ -N ipengine
-%s profile_dir=$profile_dir
+    default_template = Unicode("""#$ -V
+#$ -S /bin/sh
+#$ -N ipengine
+%s profile_dir={profile_dir}
 """%(' '.join(ipengine_cmd_argv)))
 
     def start(self, n, profile_dir):
@@ -1067,4 +1064,4 @@ sge_launchers = [
     SGEEngineSetLauncher,
 ]
 all_launchers = local_launchers + mpi_launchers + ssh_launchers + winhpc_launchers\
-                + pbs_launchers + sge_launchers
\ No newline at end of file
+                + pbs_launchers + sge_launchers