After gearing up all summer, Hulu (the NBC-Fox joint venture that is going up against YouTube) was supposed to launch in private beta yesterday, says a source. That is why NBC pulled its videos from YouTube last week. (This, after NBC abandoned iTunes for Amazon, and already started offering free downloads of its shows on the Web).

But launching a video Website can be hard—even if it is just a private beta. Now, says our source, Hulu is gunning for a private beta launch next Monday, so that it can still meet CEO Jason Kilar’s self-imposed October deadline. That date could slip until the following Wednesday and technically be considered on-time, of course, but Kilar probably wants to avoid the trick-or-treat jokes. We’re still waiting for our invites.