I'm not sure if this is in your area... but I have TimeWarner cable, and they have something called "In Demand". We have two versions.. the standard Pay-Per-View, and now HBO In Demand.
It works just like a VCR... You chose your program... and you watch it at your schedule. If the phone rings, press Pause. If you missed something, you can Rewind. It's really great, and with HBO, you can catch all the movies and shows whenever you want. (it's like an additional $7 for HBO Indemand)
Maybe your cable company has something like this?