Yeah, I agree. It's really not a LOTR series. If they just called it some adventure series, I don't think it draws much criticism. On the other hand, if they do that, they end up with fewer viewers overall.
They would tell you that it is LoTR "for a modern audience".
It is kind of telling thought that Youtubers had millions of people hating the show before it even aired. The power of Youtube!
BTW I pretty much hate this show. Mostly because of Galadriel but the rest of it is pretty lame too. There were a couple episodes that weren't terrible. That's as close to praise as I can get.