Fringe, Jeff Pinkner

Fringe is gearing up for its fifth and final season, but it will do so without one of its head honchos.

TVGuide.com has learned exclusively that Jeff Pinkner, an executive producer who has run the Fox series alongside J.H. Wyman since Season 2, has stepped down. Sources tell us it was Pinkner's decision to exit the series in order to pursue other projects and that it was an amicable split. Pinkner will not retain his executive producer credit and Wyman will be the sole showrunner for the final season.

Fringe Postmortem: What's in store for the fifth and final season?

"We're so excited to begin work on a fifth season of Fringe and to be able to deliver the 13 final episodes to our passionate and devoted fans," Fringe co-creator/executive producer J.J. Abrams said in a statement. "For four years, J.H. Wyman and Jeff Pinkner have worked tirelessly as a team to keep all the worlds in order on Fringe. We're thankful for the invaluable contributions Jeff has made to the show and of course wish him well and look forward to working together in the future. J.H. Wyman's importance to Fringe cannot be overstated, however, and I'm thrilled that he will continue as showrunner for the concluding chapters of our story. We can't wait for our fans to see what we have in store for them in the wild conclusion of Fringe."

Abrams, who co-created the show with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, selected Pinkner to be showrunner of Fringe in Season 1. Wyman, who has been with the series since the first season, joined him as co-showrunner in Season 2.

Fox announces fall premiere dates

Wyman and the cast — including Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, Lance Reddick, Blair Brown, Jasika Nicole and John Noble — will head to San Diego for the show's final Comic-Con panel Sunday, July 15 in Hall H.

The fifth and final season of Fringe will premiere Friday, Sept. 28 at 9/8c.