I see tons of programs now are shooting HD video... Deadliest Catch, Dirty Jobs, lots of stuff on History HD and Discovery HD, etc. Many of these programs have a "filmic" look although they are being shot on video (recent episodes of Dirty Jobs comes to mind).

My question is: are they shooting progressive video or are they shooting interlaced video and then processing it in post to make it look like film? If the latter, why not shoot progressive instead? Any program examples you can point to are appreciated.

All high end HD is being shot in progressive, certainly here in the UK, both documentaries and dramas. In lower end stuff I think it's a bit of both. Something else I think we're seeing is folks shooting progressive on mini camcorders, and shooting it badly, and giving a very unfavourable look, blurry and jerky.
Steve

Bill, in the US it's a mix of progressive and interlaced with everything from Sony 900s, XDCAM HD, Panasonic Varicams and 900s down to 200's and Sony Z1's & V1's. The choice of format is subjective and based upon the look the producer wants. In the end the footage is delivered via satellite, cable or over the air at 30fps.

I've spotted a few z1's and v1's on programs like Dallas SWAT and the first 48. I also read in a magazine article that A&E's new show Jacked is using the PMW-EX1.

I know a lot of the "reality" shows are using Sony Z1 camera shooting 1080i (there is a behind the scenes episode of Deadliest Catch where they show off all of the goodies)

I understand that the Travel Channel wants their submissions in HDV/1080i, or better. No mention of shooting in progressive.