Actually, the way they did the series did make sense. They had to firmly establish a very complex world in a short amount of time.
Did they? Dresden is Our World + Magic. If the TV series kept the progression about the same pace as the novels then the real heavy magic wouldn't have been needed for a while. In my opinion had they done about a book's worth of stories in a season...and used the books as the frame for the season, then I think the series would have survived better.
I think that the TV show, while still inferior to the books, did a decent job of keeping the 'spirit' of the Dresden Files. I especially liked the twist on Bob.
Taking into account how...painful...the first novels were (they were his first novels published, it shows), I still feel they were superior to what was tossed up on screen. I guess I'm a bit spoiled with shows that like to tell a major story arch over the course of a season.
As for Bob, he's on my list of things that were changed for production reasons that don't bother me.