One day before The Magicians’ season 4 premiere, Syfy has picked up a fifth season of the critically praised fantasy drama series. In addition, Henry Alonso Myers (Ugly Betty), who has been an executive producer on the series since season 1, joins John McNamara and Sera Gamble as co-showrunner for upcoming season 5.

Based on the bestselling novels by Lev Grossman, the UCP-produced series centers on a group of 20-something friends from Brakebills University as they discover their magical abilities and ward off evil creatures who threaten to destroy the magical world they’ve come to know.

“The Magicians raised the bar at Syfy and has gained momentum season after season, attracting a new audience to the channel. We are proud of this series as it continues to break the boundaries of storytelling,” said Bill McGoldrick, President, Scripted Content, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment.

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“We couldn’t be happier or more excited to conjure another year of magic and all it entails — love, hate, loyalty, betrayal, sex, foul language, drugs, battling gods, monsters and the most dangerous enemies of all: other human beings. We have the best writers, producers, directors, cast and crew in the charted multiverse. Here’s how strongly we believe this: anyone who tries to poach a single one of them will be cursed. And we have the voodoo dolls to do it,” said executive producers and co-showrunners, McNamara and Gamble.

Season 4 will pick up with our newly mind-wiped magicians at the mercy of The Monster, who is seeking them out for unknown reasons. The series stars Jason Ralph, Stella Maeve, Olivia Taylor Dudley, Hale Appleman, Arjun Gupta, Summer Bishil, Rick Worthy, Jade Tailor, Brittany Curran and Trevor Einhorn.

McNamara, Gamble, Chris Fisher, Myers, Laurie Lieser, David Reed and Groundswell Productions’ Michael London and Janice Williams executive produce.

Said McNamara and Gamble: “Henry [Alonso Myers] has been with the show since minute one of Season 1. His talent, professionalism and love of all things magical has been instrumental to our success. We couldn’t be happier to see him become co-showrunner. Also, he bakes the greatest bread this side of the Hudson River.”

Said Myers: “Having been a fan of Lev’s books since before meeting with John and Sera, the opportunity to bring his world to life has been like a dream come true. It’s rare in this business to find a combination of great material, great creative partners, and a phenomenal production team like ours. I’m not sure which particular dark magic landed me here, but I’ll be sure to keep doing all of it in secret, just in case.”

McNamara and Gamble added, “We want to hit pause on our usual snark and sincerely thank UCP and Syfy for their unparalleled support and guidance. This show wouldn’t exist without them and if it did, wouldn’t be nearly as good — or fun to do.”

Season 4 premieres Wednesday, January 23 at 9/8c on Syfy.