Star Trek: Enterprise

Star Trek: Enterprise is a roundly panned series that was cancelled after just four seasons instead of being allowed to achieve the "traditional" seven seasons that every Star Trek show has done since Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Controversies

The Akiraprise

The Enterprise (NX-01) design was roundly criticized for looking too much like the TNG-era Akira-class starships instead of the older ships that had been seen from time to time in various Trek shows.

Continuity? What Continuity?

Another point of criticism was that the writers did not follow long-established Trek canon; instead making up history as they went along, often using contrived scenarios to justify introducing characters and concepts that had no place in a prequel.

Token Black Guy

Ensign Travis Mayweather soon became the series' Token Black Guy; he frequently failed to appear in episodes, and when he did, it was often to say a single line or just lurk in the background.

The Temporal Cold War

A plotline, which never really went anywhere, about unspecified future people trying to alter time by messing with the past. Damningly, not even the writers knew how this plotline would be resolved.

The Good

Starting from the late third season, the show's quality began to improve, mainly thanks to a new producer and changes in the writing staff. The fourth season is generally regarded as the show's best effort at living up to it's premise, garnering praise from both the fans and professional reviewers.