Abbott Elementary takes place in Philadelphia, a city with more than its share of legendary sights. Although the series is mainly filmed in California, there are certain episodes which are shot on location in Philadelphia. Viewers saw an example of this during the Season 4 finale when the teachers took students on a field trip to the Please Touch Museum.

Many of these references come from series creator and star Quinta Brunson. Quinta is from West Philadelphia, and she draws inspiration from her own life. This makes Abbott Elementary quite special among the current state of television shows. At a recent panel during San Diego Comic-Con, Quinta teased a special plan they have in store for Season 5.

Quinta Brunson Teased A Live Event To Be Covered In Season 5

There has been a lot of speculation about what to expect in the upcoming fifth season of Abbott Elementary. During San Diego Comic-Con, series creator and star Quinta Brunson dropped a major teaser for fans. According to CinemaBlend, she revealed the series will be covering a live event that will appeal to Philadelphia sports fans.

“You can expect us to be filming at a live event,” Quinta said during the Abbott Elementary panel. “You can do with that information what you will, because I can’t give you more information. But I do think that Philly sports fans will be very happy, sports fans in general.”

The outlet theorized that the live event would be a Philadelphia Eagles game. CinemaBlend pointed out some history the series already has with the Eagles. In one episode, the school received rugs which featured the Eagles logo. There was also the special Season 3 premiere. During the episode, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts as well as his teammates Jason Kelce and Brandon Graham showed up to the school’s career day.

CinemaBlend suggested the live event might be the location of a field trip. If this ends up being true, it wouldn’t be the first time an episode of the show centered around a field trip. During the Season 4 finale, the teachers took their students on a field trip to the Please Touch Museum.

“We are honored that Please Touch Museum holds special childhood memories for Quinta Brunson,” Tracy Curvan, the museum’s COO, said, “and that she wanted to incorporate the museum into Abbott Elementary in such an immersive and authentic way by bringing the entire production to Philadelphia.”

Quinta is from West Philadelphia, so this is a major factor in her showcasing specific aspects of the city in the series. She has fond memories of visiting the Please Touch Museum in the past. According to Tracy, the museum staff showed the Abbott Elementary team the educational frameworks from their guided field trips during the location scouts. The goal of this was to help give the writers inspiration for the episode. “They actually lifted a couple lines,” she said. “They really wanted it to be authentic.”

This continues the show’s pattern of paying tribute to beloved spots for children in Philadelphia. Abbott Elementary has also visited the Franklin Institute and the giant slide at Smith Memorial Playground. Janine and Gregory experienced some significant moments at these locations.

“What a gift to the cultural institutions of Philadelphia, right?” Tracy told Philadelphia Magazine. “They’re so essential to the fabric of the city, and that they were formative in [Brunson’s] experience is really a testament to the work that all of our cultural institutions do for learning for children in Philadelphia in those informal ways.”

Gregory And Janine’s Relationship Will Continue To Grow During Season 5

When Tyler James Williams attended the 2025 Disney Upfronts, he spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about Abbott Elementary. The outlet asked Tyler what audiences could expect from Gregory and Janine as a couple in the upcoming season. Tyler said that they are still in the process of growing closer and there is a lot left to explore.

“We have to explore the next steps of their relationship, for sure,” Tyler said. “I think now that they’re officially together, there’s things that they have to accomplish and get done together. Like I think we saw in the [season 4] finale of Janine meeting Gregory’s father. They need to meet the families, they need to decide what life looks like for the two of them. We have a lot to explore there.”

Quinta Brunson recently gave an interview to Deadline, where she revealed the aspect of Gregory’s life she wanted to explore in Season 5. “I’m really excited to see Gregory’s apartment,” she told the outlet. “It was something we wanted to do this season that we never got to do, and I’m excited to see it next year.”

Tyler’s vague hints aren’t anything new. The actor had to maintain some mystery prior to Season 4 as well. The third season ended on a cliffhanger of Gregory and Janine kissing for the first time. While chatting with Us Weekly in 2024, he said that the actors worked “really hard to make sure” viewers could feel a tangible shift between the couple in the fourth season.

“[It is] new and fresh and different from what the previous seasons were. This season should feel tonally different for them,” Tyler said. “[When season 4 starts], this will be the first time that Gregory is in the school having fully disclosed and tried to explore what happened with Janine. Obviously, it’s a workplace and it’s going to make things a little complicated. The biggest thing that I can tease is how do you interact with a coworker that you have now expressed feelings for and definitely had some sort of physical interaction with? That’s really his biggest challenge this year.”

Ava’s Love Life Is Also Going To Blossom Further In The Upcoming Season

During Season 4, viewers got to see Ava opening up and exploring a more vulnerable side to her character. This was due in part to several key events that happened to her that season. She got fired from her job, which caused the teachers to rally behind her and fight for her to get it back. There was also the issue regarding her estranged father, with whom she finally confronts.

However, the biggest change in Ava’s life had to do with her romantic situation. Throughout Season 4, Ava is pursued by O’Shon, who is an IT representative for the school district. What begins as a flirtation between the two develops into them going on an actual date.

“You see that man, Ava isn’t going to let that go,” Janelle James, who plays Ava, told The Hollywood Reporter. “She got in the junkie car. My question as Janelle James is, is he really poor? I don’t know that. Quinta ran up to tell me I’m fine, but I’m like, ‘Is he poor?’ Can we talk about what’s really important here? (Laughs.) But O’Shon is a great development. I like that with all of Ava’s developments, yes, these other people exist — her dad, O’Shon — but it’s not about them, it’s about her. They exist as a device to get her to open up to show different sides of her and to give me, the actor, different levels to play and I love it.”

According to Quinta, audiences can expect to see more of these two budding love birds in Season 5.

“You definitely can expect to see more of O’Shon,” Quinta told Variety. “Matthew Law is wonderful, and gels so well with our cast. That’s really important to us; we love people who become part of the family really easily. I’ve known Matt since college, actually. We were great friends, and it was great to bring him into this world and for him to become such a crowd favorite.”

She continued, “And as far as Ava, not only was it incredible to like build out her love life, but her career. To actually see some motion with what happens if she’s not here. Not just for the show, but for the audience. I feel like, over three years, we really earned the ability to say, ‘You appreciate her, don’t you?’ Because it didn’t start out that way. To me, that’s a testament to character development.”