There's this lovely thing called cable. Doesn't cost much a month really. And if you're going to be busy when the shows on, they've had these nifty devices called VCR's for a while that will let you actually record things and watch them later.
Long story short, I don't give a crap if it's down. I have no problem watching or taping shows when they're on, and I have no issues with buying DVD sets of the shows I like later on.