‘Law & Order: SVU’ season 17 spoilers: Show looking at episode inspired by Duggar family

In some ways, you know that you’ve (unfortunately) become a part of the cultural zeitgeist when there is a “Law & Order: SVU” episode designed around you in some way, and the Duggar family is going to have just that later this season.

As first reported by E! News, the show’s November 4 episode “Patrimonial Burden” is going to revolve around a web of lies and secrets that is revealed when it is discovered that a 13-year old girl is pregnant within a famous reality TV family. While this family is not the Duggars per se, they do have ten children and there could be an equally complicated social structure.

While it is clear to us that this episode was clearly designed as a result of everything that transpired with Josh and his younger siblings, there are clearly still enough changes made here to avoid some of the tenuous legal battles that could unfold. “SVU” is a show at this point that has mastered the art of ripping something from the headlines, while still doing enough different to make it be its own thing. Just take a look at when the show took on the Ray Rice situation earlier this year, and we still feel like it’s possible that they may take on Bill Cosby more in time.

In case you missed it, the Duggars are still not entirely over as a brand on TLC. The network is still in the business of working with some of the Duggar children, but Josh has been permanently eliminated from any future TV endeavors.

Do you think it is a good idea for “SVU” to be tackling this sort of super-sensitive material? Share some of your thoughts right away with a comment.

Photo: NBC