Dude, ENTERPRISE was a great show! Like TNG and DS9, it didn't find it's footing until the third year. But, at that point, Paramount was losing hand-over-fist on their failed "UPN" channel where they insisted on putting all new Trek shows. THAT'S what killed ENTERPRISE. It wasn't the fanboy reactions. It was the ratings because the show was stuck on a cable channel that few cities actually had available in their chartered cable company. I truly believe, due to the realism they infected ENTERPRISE with....the hardships and challenges the first interstellar human ship would have to deal with...and the lack of cynicism that shows like BSG used to the point of cliche', ENTERPRISE would have been a bigger hit if it has been shown on normal broadcast channels, or in syndication like TNG & DS9.
As a Trekkie myself, the only thing I ever cringed at was when they ran across the Romulans. Since TOS makes such a big deal about no one (not even the Vulcans, apparently) having seen them since The Romulan War until Kirk's era. But, since that little bit never made a lot of sense (how do you have a war with a race you've never laid eyes on?) I was totally okay with dancing around that little bit. Also, them encountering that Borg probe in the arctic was just Rick Berman playing to what he thought was unconditional Borg-love by fans. Personally, it stuck out as "Hey look, it's the Borg!" rather than a good story.
Overall, the only thing Enterprise actually contradicted wasn't so much canon as it was "fanon". There had been 40 years for fans and merchandising to "fill in the gaps" of Federation history, that these so-called "fans" threw a fit they couldn't have their own personal fantasies validated by the geek community. There was an official story in place now. And not one they "control" with their opinions, and one that veered from what they had been taught to expect from writers 40-years in the past...
"What? The Vulcans aren't the perfect race TOS tried to paint them as? What? Spock wasn't the first Vulcan stationed on a human ship, but was JUST the first Vulcan in Starfleet? What? How DARE they explain where terms like 'RED ALERT' and 'M-Class Planet' come from and mean! Hoshi is the inventor of the Universal Translator?! NOOO! This whole show is filling in all the gaps and adding TOO MUCH REALITY AND COMMON SENSE to what I expect to be my personal preference of magical perfection! NERDRAGE!!"Fuck those geeks. I hope Star Trek leaves them behind with the Abramsverse. I, too, love my original Trek stuff. But, I'm smart enough and not so obsessive I believe it has to remain stagnant and die just so that my personal Geek Cred can be satiated and validated by being the "expert fan". Those type of "fans" aren't fans at all, but they are THE problem when it comes to how the outside world perceives science fiction in general, and Star Trek in particular.
P.S. VOYAGER was how I picture Hell. I wanted to rip my eyes out after the pilot. Just saying.
