It's March 12, 1967. You turn on the TV set to check out what America's most trusted anchorman is saying about the future. But can you believe your eyes? 

Walter Cronkite-the sober, even-keeled voice of reason-is promising that disposable dishes, robot maids and inflatable furniture are coming to a home near you. "Sounds preposterous," Cronkite tells his TV audience with a barely perceptible smile, "but some people are convinced it will happen."

This wonderful slice of futurism-entitled At Home 2001-can still be seen at the Museum of Television & Radio in New York and Los Angeles. And if CBS executives are smart they will rebroadcast the classic half-hour installment of The 21st Century series sometime in 2001.

Despite the passage of time, Cronkite's guided tour of a futuristic home is still a fascinating glimpse at the future-which-was-supposed-to-be. In 1967, when At Home 2001 first aired, the program reflected the public mood. And the public mood was giddy. Space age optimism was at an all-time peak, NASA astronauts were taking giant steps towards the moon. 

For Cronkite, the challenge was to go beyond the expectations of the near-future and show how the brave world of tomorrow would transform everyday life. In At Home 2001 he chose to focus on a modern suburban dwelling. A perfect choice-for it was here, in the ranch houses of America, that corporate America's latest gadgets and gizmos would surely first appear.

Cronkite's survey began in the kitchen of the future, a place which, in his words, was "more like a laboratory than a place to bake a cake." Among the many marvels for housewives (feminism was still a few years down the road) were dishes that melted in water and a food-cooking unit straight out of the Jetsons. "A meal might be stored for years," promised Cronkite, "and then cooked in seconds."

In the living room, Cronkite demonstrated the marvels of wide-screen TV-a relaxing treat best enjoyed in the comfort of a portable inflatable chair. 

"When a guest arrives," Cronkite explained, "he just pulls out his inflatable chair-a small pressurized air capsule would inflate it and it would be ready for use. At the end of the evening he'd just pull out the plug and put the deflated chair back into his little bag." Bed, bath, beyond!

Computers? Naturally they would be powerful machines. How powerful? Very powerful assured the host. Pointing to an over-sized box Cronkite verified their amazing powers. "The computer has expanded the proportions of a recipe for six into a recipe for fourteen," he explained, staring at a handful of index cards which magically cascaded out of the box on cue.

Imagine a youthful Bill Gates, still in his teenage years, watching this program and thinking, "gee, if I could only get my hands on one of those." Also try to picture the implacable Cronkite, with his trademark baritone, explaining how "we may wake up each morning to the patter of little feet-robot feet."

At times At Home 2001 goes from plausible to being downright silly. But that comes as no surprise. At the outset of the program, Uncle Walt promised viewers "it's all possible in the home of the 21st century." 

Indeed, that's the way it was.