MINNEAPOLIS — Happiness comes in many forms. But Minnesota has as much of it as anybody, argue the makers of a new docuseries “Pursuit of Happiness.”

The three-episode limited series, in which host Amanda Brinkman explores how nine Minnesotans chase the effervescent feeling, debuts this month. Produced by Minnesota PBS (the new name for Twin Cities Public Television), the series airs across the country starting in November.

Originally intended as a national series but scaled back due to federal funding cuts to public media, “Pursuit of Happiness” instead focuses on Minnesota, and nine ways to find happiness. National viewers are meant to draw lessons from a state often ranked among the country’s happiest.

Commemorating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the episodes intersperse the daily lives of Minnesotans with quotations from Founding Fathers and Enlightenment theorists. Several kids and elderly people, who producers say are the happiest segments of our population, also chime in from a bright yellow couch, delivering one-line quips about how to live a happy life.

The Star Tribune asked Kate McDonald, series producer for Minnesota PBS, about what’s left to learn about happiness and why Minnesota is the place to teach it. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: Why did you choose these nine pursuits specifically?

A: I talked to some experts in the field about what are some of the main topics around happiness. We tried to touch on all of those, or as many as we could, in these stories: wealth, power, freedom, liberty, autonomy, resiliency, community, connection, education. We did a lot of research. We talked to a lot of people.

Q: Of the nine pursuers of happiness, what was common among them?

A: Having a sense of purpose and fulfillment. Having a sense of community and connection. Having a sense of autonomy and freedom to make choices for oneself.

The happiest people, I don’t think, are necessarily without strife in their life, and we actually wrote an entire episode with resiliency — we all deal with different struggles in our lives and things don’t always go according to plan but it’s how you are able to move through those or the perspective that you can gain from those experiences that can really lead you to a deeper fulfillment and happiness.

Q: You filmed this in the wake of Operation Metro Surge. Of all the founding values, why choose happiness?

A: We actually started this topic two years ago, so the subject looked very different. The world looked different. With Metro Surge, it was very tricky.

There’s a lot to be negative about right now in our world. There’s a lot to be concerned about. There’s a lot to be worried about. I was hoping to kind of offer people some media that was hopefully hopeful. I didn’t want this to be a series that was just painting happiness in people’s lives in America with rose-colored glasses. We want to be realistic. We also want to ultimately, with the series, instill some hope that this pursuit of happiness is possible.

Q: In the show, Amanda says, “We’ve traveled across America to find you stories,” but the folks featured are all Minnesotans. Why?

A: We got people in rural Minnesota. We got people in urban Minnesota. The idea is that people could see themselves all throughout the country in their subjects. I don’t think it’s as rooted in place in Minnesota.

Initially, that was obviously part of it: I was like, “Oh, that’s interesting — Minnesotans are ranked like the happiest people in the country.” But then it became clear that there are common threads that extend beyond our state. Americans all across the country can relate to these stories.

Q: What can the rest of the country learn from Minnesotans?

A: This series shows that Minnesotans really value these core principles of our constitution — that they value core principles of what it means to be a part of a community.

When we talk to people about happiness, they say time and time again that feeling of connection with one another — that feeling of purpose — is really, really important to their happiness.

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