Back in my day, before satellite and when cable was still considered "new", we had these things called "antennas".
Seriously, for a cable outage that I hope wouldn't last that terribly long, I'd just have a set of rabbit ears laying around for emergency use. This would get your local broadcasts assuming you're in an urban/suburban area. In general, use rabbit ears by setting the legs out horizontal (not in a "V" configuration), adjust the length from tip-to-tip to around 30" for VHF channels 7 and up, 80" for channel 4, and 100" for channel 2. Aim the antenna so that the legs are perpendicular to the direction of the station's broadcast antenna. If you don't know the direction towards the broadcast antenna, just guess and rotate the rabbit ears around until you get a good picture! Keep the rabbit ears away from electrical stuff. This includes TV's, computers, microwaves, electrical extension cords, etc. In other words, the standard advertising picture of rabbit ears configured in a V and sitting on top of the television is about the worst thing you could do for good reception.
Rabbit ears are a temporary thing, unless you're real lucky in the reception department. The picture will hopefully be useable, but don't expect miracles. Don't waste money trying to buy a "fancy" pair.
This solution won't help you one bit if what you're trying to watch on TV are those thousands of home shopping channels!