At the time Star Trek’s cancellation was just, the ratings stunk. The reason it turned into a license to print money is the fans it gained in syndication.
I’ve been a fan of many good shows that were canceled. But I don’t blame the “suits”, it’s a numbers oriented business, shows that don’t get the numbers get canceled. People forget what the business of TV is all about, the job of the “suits” is to deliver our eyeballs to commercials, we are the end product, a show that isn’t creating enough end product is a failure.
As for Journeyman I wasn’t interested in it from the start. The first commercial I saw I said “oh look Quantum Leap without Dean Stockwell”, and given that all 5 seasons of Quantum Leap WITH Dean Stockwell are available on DVD that just didn’t draw me in.
This is an exact reason to blame the suits. They had Star Trek which was a license to print money, and they just discarded it. If a show is good, it should find an audience.