Just when it seemed like the future of Eureka had been sorted out, Syfy has dealt a blow to understandably confused fans of the five-year-old comedy-drama.

News broke late last week that the cable network had renewed Eureka for a six-episode sixth season, signaling the end of the series, if not necessarily the franchise. But now Entertainment Weekly reports Syfy has abruptly changed course, dropping the six-episode order and canceling the show with the conclusion of Season 5.

“After painstaking consideration, we have had to make the difficult business decision to not order a season six of Eureka," the network said in a statement to EW. "But Eureka is not over yet. There is a new holiday episode this December and 12 stellar episodes set to debut next year, marking its fifth season and six memorable years on Syfy. The 2012 episodes are some of the best we’ve seen, and will bring this great series to a satisfying end. We are very grateful to Bruce Miller and Jaime Paglia, their team of incredible writers, and an amazing cast and crew who have consistently delivered a series we continue to be very proud of. We thank the fans for their support of this show and know they will enjoy its final season in 2012."

Created by Andrew Cosby and Jaime Paglia, Eureka debuted in July 2006, centering on a top-secret town in Oregon populated almost entirely by geniuses working for a research facility responsible for all of the major technological breakthroughs of the past 50 years. The current Season 4.5 premiered on July 11 to 2 million viewers.