John Oliver concludes first season with star-studded salmon gag

John Oliver concluded his first season of “Last Week Tonight” on HBO on Sunday, but don’t worry, the show will return for a second season on Feb. 8.

It’s been quite a ride for Oliver’s show, which debuted in April and has quickly become an essential part of the online discussion, choosing to tackle complicated subjects rather than go after the goofy headlines of the day.

But for his finale, Oliver couldn’t resist one of the goofiest news stories to come along in quite a while, and he recruited half of Hollywood to help him report it.

The story was about the Whooshh fish transport system, a pressurized fish cannon that helps salmon move upstream and is being used on the Washougal River near the Oregon and Washington border.

Oliver loved the idea of the device so much, he had one set up in the studio. And man, you can really watch those fish fly. Set to classical music, they ended up everywhere, from the sets of “The Daily Show,” “The Colbert Report” and “The Tonight Show,” to “Grey’s Anatomy” and even “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”

Ever wanted to see what it would look like when two-time Oscar-winner Tom Hanks got hit in the face with a flying salmon? Here it is!

What about Houston Rockets player Dwight Howard? You got it.

Oliver wrapped up his first season in the classiest way possible. And made the best use of gag fish since Monty Python’s Fish Slapping Dance.

Twitter: @patrickkevinday