April 17, 2025
Provided image/Disney/Gilles Mingasson
Gregory (Tyler James Williams) and Janine (Quinta Brunson) stand in front of the carousel at the Please Touch Museum in a scene from the 'Abbott Elementary' Season 4 finale.
The fictional Philly teachers of "Abbott Elementary" took their classes to the Please Touch Museum in the show's Wednesday night season finale — much to the displeasure of the older students, who protested that the place was "for babies."
Over the course of the episode, however, they warm to the experience as they move through the building's interactive exhibits.
The basic premise is a familiar one to the people who work at the Fairmount Park institute. They've personally seen reluctant middle schoolers come around in real time.
"We say our core audience is children 0 to age 8," said Tracy Curvan, chief operating officer of the Please Touch Museum. "But we have teenage visitors that come with their siblings. They might kind of hang back a little bit. (But) they actually get in and want to play in the exhibit spaces.
"At Please Touch Museum, we think play is universal, that teenagers and adults can learn through play."
This lesson, and the show's Season 4 field trip to the museum, was long overdue. The ABC sitcom had been in contact with the institution since 2023 about filming an episode on location, originally for the show's Season 3 closer. That discussion stalled when the crew ultimately decided to stay in Los Angeles, recreating Smith Memorial Playground on the West Coast instead. When Season 4 went into production, however, "Abbott Elementary" knew exactly who to call.
According to Curvan, coordination began in January when the show sent its location manager to scope out the space. He lucked out; a snow storm had closed the museum to visitors, so he received an exclusive tour. More staffers returned later in the month. The museum sent over the educational materials its staffers use for school field trips. And then, over three days in late February and early March, the "Abbott Elementary" cast and crew filmed inside the building.
"We really pride ourselves on creating a best-in-class experience for our visitors," Curvan said. "And we worked really hard to create a best-in-class experience for visitors who were enjoying the museum in a little bit of a different way."
That meant showing up a full hour before the crew's 5 a.m. call time to turn on the lights, activate the exhibits and prep the areas on the shooting schedule. There were 10 total: the museum's Adventure Camp, Centennial Innovations, Food & Family, Roadside Attractions, Rocket Room, River Adventures and Wonderland exhibits, plus the carousel house, lower level theater and main entrance. Shopping in the grocery store in Food & Family and driving the SEPTA bus in Roadside Attractions were non-negotiable experiences that show creator Quinta Brunson wanted to incorporate, Curvan learned. The West Philly native had visited the museum herself as a kid, back when it was located on 21st Street.
Mr. Johnson shops the grocery store in 'Abbott Elementary.'
Adjustments were made for TV along the way. The clouds in the River Adventures space were an issue for the crew's lighting balloon, so the museum staff raised them higher. A pipe in Adventure Camp that connects to the Wonderland room below it, allowing kids to communicate across floors, wasn't quite fitting the camera angle. The exhibits team solved the problem by building out the piping. Though the clouds have rolled back to their normal position, that extended pipe is still up as an "Easter egg" for "Abbott Elementary" fans, Curvan said.
The Please Touch Museum extended a pipe connecting its Wonderland and Adventure Room spaces for the 'Abbott Elementary' season finale.
Perhaps the toughest challenge was keeping the museum's star turn under wraps. Word spread quickly about the show's late winter visit to Philadelphia, thanks to a casting call that went out for local kid actors. Curvan worried that fans would figure out that the dates coincided with a "private rental" that closed the Please Touch Museum from Feb. 27 through March 1. But the surrounding shade provided some cover.
"I think the benefit of being kind of nestled in Fairmount Park is that the visibility might not be as great as if they were at some of the other (Philadelphia) institutions," Curvan said. "So our location in this instance, having private parking and a little bit nestled in a park, worked to our advantage."
It's a point of pride for the staff that every shot of the museum in "Abbott Elementary" was filmed in the actual building — especially since the shoot is only the second time the show has actually filmed in Philadelphia. (The first was at the Franklin Institute, for the Season 2 finale.) The visit also gave the museum professionals a glimpse into a totally different kind of play, the kind show biz creatives like Brunson tackle every day.
"It was a really unique opportunity for our staff to see what it takes to put on a television show of this scale," Curvan said. "And our teams actually had an opportunity to assist the production. Our exhibits team had to do some scenic painting. Our engineers were basically on walkie with them to help them. It was a true collaboration."
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