Elementary is wonderful. Personally, I think it's a better show than Sherlock. It's not nearly so impressed with itself, for one thing - like I said, all that sparkly FX stuff comes off narcissistic to me. Plus, Holmes is not nearly as much of an asshole as he is on the British version (though that Sherlock is slowly coming around.) This is a sore point for me, as I went back to reread the canon last year and discovered that Holmes was actually nowhere near as ill-tempered, snotty and rude as he's made out to be in modern versions. It's that whole antihero-worship nonsense, the idea that a protagonist can't possibly be interesting if he's decent, polite, and well-mannered, grrrr.

Elementary is also doing far more interesting things with the canon characters, in my opinion. If you jump in now, you're going to be a bit confused (if you know the canon, that is), because their take is quite creative in some respects. I really like where they're going with it - the directions feel more organic than in the British version, where I can feel the strain of the writers trying to be original and impressive rather than just getting on with it. All in all, I prefer the US version, though I'll keep watching the British one because frankly I fucking love Martin Freeman and will watch anything he does. (Have for years, actually. Have you seen his Rembrandt in Nightwatching?)