Detroit, MI - Actress Erin Cummings, who will portray a medical examiner in ABC’s new fall drama “Detroit 1-8-7,” researched her role up close this week during a visit to the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The county morgue is the busiest in Michigan, with nearly 3,000 autopsies performed annually. A teaching facility, it is the only morgue in the state to have an accredited forensic lab.

Cummings will play Dr. Abbey Ward in the crime series, based on the lives of a Detroit homicide unit. “Detroit 1-8-7” will be the first network series to be shot completely in Detroit. A studio is being constructed in Highland Park.

Cummings is a graduate of the University of North Texas with a degree in journalism. Her acting credits include “Star Trek: Enterprise,” “Charmed,” “Dante’s Cove,” “The Bold and the Beautiful,” “Cold Case,” and “Dollhouse.”

More than two years after rolling out the most generous film tax breaks in the country, Michigan has emerged as a key player in the movie industry.

“Landing a television series here is another big step as we diversify our economy,” said Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano, who joined Health and Human Services Director Edith Killins in welcoming Cummings to Wayne County.

Ficano noted that ABC has announced it will inject millions of dollars into the local economy through production costs for its first 12 episodes, while creating dozens of full-time jobs and work for extras.

The series is scheduled to debut at 10 p.m. September 21.