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Credit: Amazon Studios

On the surface, HBO Max’s Made for Love and Fleabag have very little in common. On paper, the stories don’t cross over. One is about a woman running from a billionaire tech-sociopath, and the other a woman falling into the chaos of self-loathing.

Yet, as you dig deeper into either the Made for Love book, written by Alissa Nutting, or Fleabag, written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, you see similarities that will appeal to the same audience. Both have bizarre and deeply flawed characters working through twisted relationships, full of eccentricities that take reality’s kinks into brilliantly far-fetched events.

Based on what we’ve read so far, HBO Max could be creating a show that fills the void left by Fleabag — which looks unlikely to get a Season 3.

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What we know about Made for Love so far?

  • It’s based on the 2017 book by Alissa Nutting. The author has also co-written the pilot and is an executive producer on the series.
  • Patrick Somerville (The Leftovers) is the showrunner and penning the adaptation.
  • S.J. Clarkson (Jessica Jones, The Defenders) will direct and co-executive produce.
  • The Series will be 10 episodes, each lasting 30 minutes.
  • Cristin Milioti (How I Met Your Mother, Fargo, Black Mirror) stars as Hazel Green.
  • Ray Romano (Get Shorty, The Irishman) has a prominent role as Hazel’s father, Herbert Green.
  • Augusto Aguilera (The Predator) and Noma Dumezweni (The Undoing) also star in 10 episodes of the show.
  • The book is a dark comedy with a deviant sense of humor. As an example: Romano’s character is a widower who has shunned relationships and is living out his life with Diane, a robot sex doll.

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What the book is about?

Warning: the story from the book is covered below, so stop reading if you don’t want spoilers for HBO Max’s Made for Love.

Hazel Green (35) leaves her abusive husband Byron Gogol, a millionaire CEO who wants to take control of her mind in some strange tech-experiment. So, Hazel runs away to her widowed father.

While desperately trying to escape the reach of Byron, Hazel meets a con man named Jasper. He’s had a near-death experience that left him only able to get sexually aroused by dolphins. Together, they save each other from their problems.

Despite the absurdity, the book has a deep commentary on the intersection between technology and human relationships. If HBO Max can deliver a show as outlandish as the book, Made for Love will definitely appeal to the Fleabag audience, and likely be a top show on the streaming service.

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