S1 E24: The Lottery, Erdogan & a Fish Cannon: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Season 1, Episode 24, November 9th, 2014. Finale. John Oliver does a deep dive into the lottery, thanks the season's very special guests, and gives updates on Turkey's president, Mike Bloomberg, and an unexpected use for a fish cannon. Even more unexpected than its intended use.
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[@HinekoAkahi]

Salmon Cannon is still one of my favourite segments ever - just, the way they got all those people from different networks together to participate in something ultimately meaningless but most definitely joyful.

[@francca]

Definitely some season finale-worthy effort right there 🙏

[@richardsimon4135]

One of the best bits in tv history

[@lynemac2539]

As a Washingtonian, I am so proud. Also I love salmon!

[@mosesbacke2311]

Salmon Cannon and Eat Shit Bob are segments that will live on as long as there is a TV set or a computer.

[@trishaferrand1395]

Definitely disgusting.

[@stephenholmgren405]

This is like finding a $20 bill in your pants every time you reload your youtu e homepage

[@kenisi_thedevilonhigh]

Man if that only worked.... Le sad face

[@linux750]

Amen to that! Teach us about what's REALLY going on Jin Oliver!

[@speedodragon]

bruh same.

[@stephenholmgren405]

I saw the typo after i posted it but figured nobody would read it 🤕

[@amberts180]

I’m never clicking another one until they include the date in the title. I don’t trust them anymore!!

[@yourlordsavior5724]

Guys I went and looked up all the links John gave us and holy sh*t it is still up and it's still funny years later.

[@JAlves88]

Damm really? That's good shit

[@fogrepairshipakashi5834]

They actually explained this later, but every time they make a fake URL for a website, LWT and HBO legally have to buy it and keep it running.

[@raykyogrou0358]

i was also shocked they're still live lmao

[@kay_faraday]

does seem like they changed the images from the ones shown in the video tho.

[@Kwilson328]

@@kay_faradayi think they honestly updated the images as he aged

[@ilyakotovich7319]

It is 2024…. World is being torn apart by wars, pandemic and greedy people in government and corporations. But fish cannon still reminds us- humanity still can do great things.

[@TimmyTheTinman]

The pandemic ain’t around anymore but all that other stuff yeah

[@IkanisuShikari]

All Washingtonians should be proud... this is truly emblematic of our state.

[@trishaferrand1395]

Or stupid things.

[@brairr9966]

Man interferes with everything that is natural because of their greed

[@jii.]

​@@TimmyTheTinmanIt just went into remission. The threat of another pandemic is still there.

[@animeartist888]

I cannot believe that this is the first time I've seen that fish cannon bit! I laughed so hard it hurt! Thank you so much, LWT team, for gifting us these old episodes for free here on KZbin. You've legitimately made my whole month!

[@zumabbar]

the fish cannon segment had always been available on youtube

[@adam45z]

​@@zumabbar that doesn't mean everyone has seen it

[@zumabbar]

@@adam45zthat also didn't mean i said what you said

[@josephevans6293]

Same here...my sides are killing me

[@danaschaffner5455]

I want to go erase my memory and watch it again for the first time

[@radiobob1908]

I need everyone to know about the Survive The Sound fish tracking game. Every year, scientists in Washington State microchip some salmon to track their journey to Puget Sound. These fish are then given names and cartoon avatars. Some of my favorites are Brian Mackerel, Sergeant Snackbar, and Floundry10. Businesses (usually local and/or fish-related, but not always) can sponsor a fish. For example, Floundry10 was obviously sponsored by Foundry10. This funds the restoration of salmon habitats. Some teachers also have their students sign up and pick a fish to track on their journey. When I was in high school, I picked Forest, who, if I remember correctly, got eaten by a sea lion at one of the dams that the salmon cannon helps fish across. This year, Survive The Sound begins on May 6th.

[@cloudbrooks]

thank you for this info!! :D im so glad i know about this now

[@kimsleep4111]

Once again, humanity is screwing around with an animal that has its homing function that took millions of years to evolve totally screwed over to accommodate us

[@Crow-Fly]

John oliver being free to watch on KZbin! A match made in heaven!

[@theanthill22]

The actors keeping a straight face after getting fished was funny

[@LindaC616]

Especially the soap actors

[@edwardgrimes7535]

THEIR THEME SONG HAS LYRICS!? How have I gone ten years without knowing that?

[@pennybutnotthecoin]

So glad i found this comment lol i never would have guessed it

[@jcwoodward0629]

I caught that at the end and it blew my mind too

[@jessaminemanchester]

Anyone know if the full version with lyrics is available anywhere? (I'd love it if I could find it on Spotify/Apple Music/etc but even an unmarked audio file on some decade old webpage would be cool too, I just want to hear the full song!)

[@sayofthelor]

@@jessaminemanchester go by valley lodge

[@saferoundhouse5910]

The song is Go by Valley Lodge

[@austinb3463]

He looks so young. So happy.

[@oliverisenberg1862]

He hasn’t learned what we’ve all learned yet

[@davidfuentes9957]

@@oliverisenberg1862or his future self.

[@getnkosi]

So long ago

[@BKKfreak]

He wasn't American back then.

[@user-gp4dk6wz4o]

The salmon cannon is one of the funniest things I've seen in a while.

[@chriskelly6559]

And everyone that got fish smacked kept a straight face....but I'd bet the outtakes are side splitting funny.

[@Imaginita]

The Salmon Canon lives rent-free inside my head.

[@GoneAsGoneCanBe]

I have sat here while working from home, with this playlist going since yesterday. Sad I have hit the end. Can't wait for the next season to get uploaded.

[@singproud22]

Been doing the same, and was just thinking the same thing.

[@MusicfromMarrs]

Memorial weekend provides.

[@johnchessant3012]

S1 E24 (aired November 9, 2014)

[@Sam-Cain]

John Chessant, we salute you!

[@cloudbrooks]

o7

[@mrfrostrunner5192]

Hey that’s my birthday. (Not the year though)

[@gedster]

I was curious as to whether or not the Mike Bloomberg sites he mentioned near the beginning were still up or not, so I checked All 3 remain online, all these years later. Amazing.

[@davidfuentes9957]

Yay, I checked and you’re right!

[@MeepsNcheese]

Ten whole years have passed of me being an avid watcher of the KZbin clips of this show and *this* is the first time I've heard that there are LYRICS to the theme?? Sidenote: I'm oddly emotional seeing a 10 years younger dancing John

[@SnooperSwizzle0728]

ME TOO. What is it? Maybe there’s it’s just poetic and sad to see John Oliver dancing gleefully before the pandemic, before the fall of Roe, before Drumpf, before Jan6, before Ukraine+Israel/Gaza. It’s not even because it makes me reflect on wtf I was doing in 2014 (because it does). It’s so sad sad to see Oliver blissfully dancing before the world became irrevocably different in the span of 10 years (and not really for the better). The world is now infinitely more complex despite dealing with the SAME issues but on top of it we’re now hanging onto our democracy by a thread.

[@MeepsNcheese]

@@SnooperSwizzle0728 It's like...he's older and more tired now, and he often jokes about how bleak the world feels, but at the end of the day there's just this little spirit and silliness that shines through. What a light, honestly.

[@SnooperSwizzle0728]

@@MeepsNcheese 100% agree. I hope he carries the show at least until things around. He has no idea how much we need him right now. The show is truly a public service. He reinforces that those who have significant concerns about the current zeitgeist are not being hyperbolic (no matter how much gaslighting comes from big corps/certain politicians).

[@ultimatehawkeyefangirl]

So this is the episode that started the bit of buying random URLs… incredible!

[@Robert_MacCready]

One of the best 30 minutes of tv there is.

[@oxpolitik]

When I first moved to Michigan, I tried to find public transparency documents on the lottery. Couldn't find them. Mind-boggling to think the state runs an organization that manages billions with so little accountability.

[@nonamemcnotaspy8654]

Ready to rewatch season 2!!!

[@JusTypical]

Imagine buying a ‘98 Mazda for $2500 today. Wild

[@goddollars]

This was the craziest part for me lol take me back

[@trustingpeddler383]

So glad for the full episodes. I'm 36, but I want to be John Oliver when I grow up.

[@jiggly-puffy]

Throwback to when Seth did a standing monologue

[@stefanhoimes]

And Colbert doing a Report!!

[@Sam-Cain]

And Jon Stewart on The Dai-oh wait no nevermind.

[@alexissweet5890]

Throwback to when Seth was in a suit.

[@tiwantiwaabibiman2603]

That fish cannon bit has me rollin in my bed at 6am!!! The look on some of those actors' faces was priceless! Wamda Syke's "WTH?" was timeless. How were those soap opera actors able to keep straight faces when the fish hit her in the face during their dramatic moment? I wanted it to go on forever... LOL! 🦈 🦈 🦈

[@Imhexed]

God bless you John for calling out the lottery scammers! Where's our superfunded education systems?!

[@GeauT]

From Oregon. I remember when the lottery, and state gambling, first started. I was pushed as a way to fund schools. Since then, legislation has siphoned that money off to so many other things, that education is getting a pittance from Oregon Lottery.

[@kevinfoster1138]

My mother remembers when Washington state lottery started and is still very disappointed the money they said was going to the schools STILL hasn't made it to the schools.

[@TheMugbearer]

I can't believe they showered John Oliver with fake salmon for the halibut.

[@TheTenthDoctorandHisTardis]

I’m ready for season two to drop! 😊

[@jordanlewis4983]

Still classic with the salmon canon. I can just hear the call: “You guys wanna be on HBO?”

[@alexanderguarionex4498]

Couldn't wait for this next episode

[@itchiegames]

i mean it came out a decade ago so you could have just went and watched it

[@fcbahamutzero]

Did i really just binge all of season 1 in one day!

[@Ani-rq7wv]

Wait does the LWT song have lyrics?! It’s had lyrics this whole time?!!

[@Caseyisawkward]

The commitment to the bit

[@lorigoshert6667]

I remember pretty much all of Season 1 well! I was teaching English in Prague at the time. I had a few groups of students who worked at an organization that ran a lottery there (Now I remember the name - Sazka), and I showed them part of this episode in class for listening practice and discussion.

[@ultimatehawkeyefangirl]

Please tell me you showed them the Salmon Cannon segment!

[@lorigoshert6667]

@@ultimatehawkeyefangirl I probably did at some point. I had a lot of classes and showed several clips from Last Week Tonight and the Colbert Report over the years. They were great for starting discussions with advanced-level adult students.

[@TheeAntiChris]

JOHN OLIVER speaks the brutal truth hilariously!

[@seluhir8820]

Salmon Cannon LITERALLY never gets old. It always brings tears to my eyes - because I'm laughing so hard.

[@jiedcogahilme676]

#ThankyouHBO for making the complete episodes available. I can't even access HBO where I live.

[@tracynonumbers]

the only other reason was to watch Bill Maher before he became ultra-bourgeois old white guy

[@skullfish1013]

if I won the lottery I'd buy a whole cart of groceries and not worry about the cost.

[@heatherregimbal4552]

Sadly you won't have enough for a whole cart, unless it's junk food

[@themadinspector]

I love the salmon cannon bit! 😆 🤣 😂

[@Matuse]

I have so many things I need to warn 2014 John Oliver about...

[@angelowentzler9961]

The salmon cannon segment is the best thing ever made. EVAH

[@ACE-wy6ty]

THIS IS A GEM I NEVER KNEW I NEEDED!!!

[@dwbrock1992]

🎉 make old uploads great again! Lol watching the ones I missed (most of them)

[@enikata7349]

Oh my goodness, the salmon cannon bit was awesome!

[@nymack66]

Nailed it they did, love the Salmon cannon

[@joink25]

Wait wait wait...the show theme has lyrics?

[@LunaryxDiarmait]

That is one hell of a salmon cannon!

[@eugenejr.subrado8201]

Wow! Those sites are still active. 😄

[@jvissers3086]

It feels like I haven't seen this episode for 10 years!

[@firerun777]

Didn't know the Salmon Canon was this early. With so many cameos I thought It was at least at season 2 bit

[@Dice12K]

Well, I just finished watching the entire season 1. Thank you for this. Here's hoping for LWT to do this some more.

[@Satsujinki1973]

They need to revisit the Salmon cannon in this time of war.

[@joshhawes6084]

The fingers crossed in green and white was the old logo for Virginia in the early 90's

[@danielriggle]

The fish launching had laughing so hard.

[@lucianbakerii4047]

The Oregon Lottery money is going to schools, but the legislature removed school funding from the state budget.

[@heixiong5860]

The real tragedy is that they don't bring the Salmon cannon back every episode.

[@TheJoiUnspeakable]

The theme song having words will never not be funny.

[@MisterTutor2010]

The lottery is a tax on people who are bad at math.

[@novajacob6683]

John looks 20 years younger in this 10 year old video.

[@reneelibby4885]

Trump did it to us.

[@batmanjones655]

The Danube Waltz was made for fish cannon

[@heidiadkins4871]

I started watching this show routinely 5 years ago. I was only 13 when it started… so understandably was not watching this. I am very happy to be watching season one for the first time.

[@dominikcramer8812]

It is SO amazing to have these shows available on KZbin!

[@seymourdemonica9264]

I will never be over the RBG chihuahua

[@mr.flibble3190]

"We don't know" is the precise opposite of a spoiler.

[@veggigoddess]

We will never be able to unsee a raw rotisserie chicken strip dancing

[@raptormesh]

Best use of fake salmon.

[@Simplynezooo]

The full intro song is 🤯🤯🤯

[@jamiemcnern7651]

Needing season 2 in full as fast as those fish are moving through that cannon! 😂🤣

[@aabu4995]

Jet Force 5!!! Even w the salmon blasts. Where were you on this Kimmel?

[@Rad9000]

Salmon F'ing Cannon.

[@josephevans6293]

I was dying over the fish cannon ..one of the best clips ever

[@daviddunn2104]

How can you not love John Oliver, classic comedy!

[@sneezyg1]

1:40 “controvversee”

[@BadgerBabe89]

I can't with the Salmon bit!!! 🤣👌

[@bennyboogenheimer4553]

Jesus Christ 10 years of screwing HBO! I wonder if Clearance Thomas is waiting to take the RV untill the SCOTUS decides it's no longer needed, and issues King's Rights to Trump?

[@emiliskog]

Well he only had a month and it's passed

[@Kuriousape]

The mid video advert I had was for an online casino….. read the room, algorithm. Read the room.

[@tee_es_bee]

Thank you for uploading the entirety of season 1 from a current HBO subscriber! 🧡💛🧡

[@larragunn2809]

Truly one of the absolute BEST shows on the airwaves today AMAZING WRITERS!! thank you thank you 💙💙💙

[@jakehernandez12933s]

craziest thing is how true John Oliver is to his sense of humor over time. the style hasnt changed much cuz it didn't have to... quality journalist + quality humor in a weird unique John Oliver kind of way!

[@jillmarie1332]

I came here for the fish cannon.

[@dizzym9554]

Funnily enough two states I've lived in have been in the liquor business

[@dizzym9554]

Notably in Virginia you could *only* buy hard liquor at state owned stores called the "ABC" and yes they did advertise it as the money going to things like education

[@stefanhoimes]

PA has state stores and absolutely no alcohol in convenience stores. Some grocery store chains use a loophole about having restaurants and seating to be able to sell beer and wine. Current governor is in favor of loosening the prohibition-era laws.

[@BerylMorgan]

Holy crap I can't believe he hit 3/4 of his fellow strike forcers 9 years before SF5 ever happened

[@rainbowtropolis]

This is so awesome, I get to watch the ones I've missed!

[@Rice-bowl214]

This makes my day I love the hustle John

[@alexanderhensel611]

"And then we didn't have any food." damn. Like I know, she is a cognizant individual who spent their food money... but she also spent it on a state sponsored activity the state knows is addictive. That feels like a commercial version of entrapment tbh.

[@BadJ63]

No one ever wins the lottery, it's always somebody else.

[@csnaber]

release the second season ma' john!

[@davidfuentes9957]

Go to vacation, cancel yourself! I don’t care. But release the second season John!! Second season! Second season!

[@birbluv9595]

I am going to watch the salmon cannon over and over

[@RaulRib]

Who else binge-watched all episodes in like 2 days from release?

[@rjpittman4510]

Salmon cannon is perfect. *chef's kiss*

[@evelina733]

So great! Thank you for sharing it again 😍😍😍😍😍💕💕💕🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@matrixphijr]

The funniest thing Jimmy Fallon's ever done.

[@Nixxote]

Ten years after this first aired we now have sports leagues like the NHL that exclusively run ads for online gambling sites. Not to mention the ubiquitous nature of alcohol in this part of the world. It really does not instil any real sense that we care about the destructive influence that this has on people struggling with addiction. We still callously wave our fingers at those poor souls dealing with it as though the game isn’t completely stacked against them. If you have managed to escape from the clutches of alcohol or gambling or any other destructive substance then my heart goes out to you. You are an incredibly strong person and you have my utmost respect. You beat the odds in a world that fully expected you to fail if not conspired against you and you promptly told it to fuck right off. Because YOU have shit to do and a life to live. Keep going. 🤟

[@naomilu9910]

We thank YOU, Jon Oliver!

[@veggigoddess]

I know someone who totally beat the odds and won two major Kansas lotteries, I don't even think more than two years apart. Like major major wins in the Millions each! Family that he didn't even know came after him since they publicized it and showed his face even though he didn't want that to happen. They came out of the Woodworks wanting money from him having every reason in the book that they needed it and guilt tripping him and because he was a nice old man with no real family Beyond once he didn't know he wanted to help out. He ended up dying maybe 10 years later or less completely broke because he didn't know how to say no. You should not be able to win multi millions of dollars or even half a million dollars without required psychiatric therapy going along with your win as the majority of humans who win this, who aren't already wealthy, do not know how to handle it

[@Sylenced1]

A National Treasure for all topics he and his staff, Paws of Justice, and more cover. When the EP ended with the year 2015 I checked my 2024 calendar and died a little inside. Thanks for making Sundays so very worth looking towards for so long, even if I'm ancient

[@thesilverhedgehog]

All praise the glorious Salmon Cannon!😂

[@ZeDlinG67]

26:29 thank you for the 11 years of continued poor decisions HBO!

[@reneelibby4885]

Oliver is great!

[@TheFlash1218]

The salmon bit is like a time capsule of a specific era of tv