Morten (TV series)

Morten is an animated series created by Phelan Morkel and based on his comic strip and comic book character Morten the Wolf. Originally airing on member stations, the series moved to  in 2017, which has released and streamed all new episodes since, the  digital subchannel network airs second-run broadcasts of new episodes and continues to air reruns of older seasons.

Synopsis
Morten is an anthropomorphic wolf farmer who is the proprietor of the Man's Farm in the fictional town of Wakahbout. Morten attempts to pursue various activities and/or schemes, many of them for personal benefit or financial gain, with comically disastrous results. The show often uses these events to teach the audience middle school-level knowledge about agriculture, agricultural techniques and the history of agriculture.

Development and comparison with Mole Miner
Phelan Morkel first created the character of Morten the Wolf in 1995. He intended for the character to teach children about agricultural history and techniques through a mix of comedy and satire. On September 4, 2003, Variety reported that and  had ordered a pilot presentation of the then tentatively titled Morten

Morten debuted on September 2, 2005. It's first episode, titled "And The Cow Says...", capped off a special day of premieres for the block that included premieres of new episodes of Morkel's other series Mole Miner and Trisha's Way. After the first 10 episodes aired in September-October of 2005, the second season started on November 25, 2005, on the same day as the Big Big Friend Day event for the main PBS Kids block, but not during the actual event itself. Morkel left creative control of Morten in the hands of its showrunners, veteran animation writers Bob Apakidze and Jason Blumkin, so he could focus on Mole Miner.

While Morten drew high ratings from the start, it fought an uphill battle to gain acceptance from critics and viewers alike, with many writing it off as a mere clone of Mole Miner.

Development of Morten ' s individuality
Initially, Phelan Morkel was focused more on Mole Miner, viewing Morten as a "sidecar" in comparison. Likewise, Bob Apakidze and Jason Blumkin struggled to help the show carve out its own identity.

As Morten progressed, however, the show began to develop its own distinct approach and identity in comparison, becoming more and more distinguished from other children's animated series on the air. Standing out from its counterparts increasingly with each passing season, it has been praised by critics for its usage of sociopolitical satire, farce, cringe comedy and absurdist humor, all within the context of a educational children's animated series.

After the show's first several seasons, Morkel not only began to fully understand and appreciate Morten, but began putting more time and effort into his involvement in the series.

Development of plot lines and scripts
On developing scripts for Morten, showrunner Bob Apakidze stated that "It usually comes out of the blue." In that interview, he said "for example, the plot for "Homeboy Clark Needs Surgery" came from when one of our writers, Mikaela Swanson, came into the office and said that her niece had gotten surgery for a burst appendix. And we thought the idea of a character having to get surgery would teach the audience something about visiting the doctor for something better than a check-up and how it would go."

Episodes
The following seasons have aired:
 * Season 1 (2005) — 10 episodes
 * Season 2 (2005-06) — 20 episodes
 * Season 3 (2006-07) — 25 episodes
 * Season 4 (2007-08) — 30 episodes
 * Season 5 (2008-09) — 30 episodes
 * Season 6 (2009-10) — 30 episodes
 * Season 7 (2010-11) — 30 episodes
 * Season 8 (2011-12) — 30 episodes
 * Season 9 (2012-13) — 30 episodes
 * Season 10 (2013-14) — 30 episodes
 * Season 11 (2014-15) — 30 episodes
 * Season 12 (2015-16) — 30 episodes
 * Season 13 (2016-17) — 30 episodes
 * Season 14 (2017) — 5 episodes
 * Season 15 (2017-18) — 25 episodes
 * Season 16 (2018-19) — 30 episodes
 * Season 17 (2019-20) — 30 episodes
 * Season 18 (2020-21) — 30 episodes
 * Season 19 (2021-22) — 30 episodes
 * Season 20 (2022-23) — 30 episodes
 * Season 21 (2023-24) (upcoming)