KINGSTON — The Red Lobster in Kingston was one of many that shuttered abruptly last month amid mass closures nationwide following the seafood chain’s bankruptcy filing on May 19.

But unlike many of those Red Lobsters, the entire contents of this particular Red Lobster have found a new home, at least temporarily: The TV studio of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.”

Late-night show host Oliver dedicated the last segment of Sunday’s episode to Red Lobster’s bankruptcy. He noted that after Red Lobster’s parent company closed dozens of restaurants, it began auctioning off equipment, including from the Kingston location.

Oliver concluded the episode with a surprise announcement: The show had won the auction to buy all the items from the Kingston Red Lobster, which were used to recreate the restaurant inside the show’s studio at the CBS Broadcast Center in midtown Manhattan.

The equipment and furniture were sold off as part of “the largest restaurant equipment auction ever,” which included items from more than 50 Red Lobsters across the U.S. The auctions ended on May 16 and were winner-take-all, meaning the highest bidder would walk away with the entire contents of the Red Lobster location they bid on, according to the restaurant liquidator TAGeX Brands’ website, which held the auction.

“The frustrating thing is it seems just about any random idiot could run a Red Lobster better than these companies have done, but there’s really only one way to put that to the test,” Oliver said in the episode. “We did participate in one (auction) for the contents of this Red Lobster in Kingston, New York, and we f------ won everything inside it. We have no prior restaurant experience — that doesn’t seem to be disqualifying.”

The audience cheered as Oliver then walked from his desk to the recreated Red Lobster restaurant featuring the name “Red Lobster with Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” in bright red neon lights.

“It’s a new concept in casual dining where we’re not looking to get rich off this — we very much won’t do that. Instead, what we do want to do is give people the single item that they want most from a Red Lobster, and that is the biscuits. They are the only thing that this location will sell. We’ll still have the inexplicable nautical-themed artwork and the lobster tank, but those lobsters are really only there so that they can watch you eat biscuits.”

It’s unclear if the lobsters shown in the episode belonged to the shuttered Red Lobster in Kingston or what will happen to the equipment. Representatives for HBO did not return the Times Union’s requests for comment Tuesday.

The late-night show also offered a promotion “limited for the duration of the taping”: One Cheddar Bay Biscuit for $1, a nod to Red Lobster’s popular endless shrimp offer for $20, which the company added as a permanent menu item for the first time last summer instead of as a traditional limited-time offer.

The 56-year-old casual dining chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May. According to court filings, Red Lobster employs about 36,000 workers in the U.S. and Canada. It has 551 restaurants in the U.S., 27 in Canada and 27 franchised locations in Mexico, Japan, Ecuador and Thailand. About 100 of them were shuttered after the bankruptcy filing.

Despite some blaming the restaurant’s financial issues on its endless shrimp promotions, which led to approximately $11 million in losses, NBC News reported that private equity played a key role.

Oliver has a history of surprising viewers with his topical, end-of-the-episode stunts. He opened the current season by offering U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas $1 million a year for the rest of his life and a $2.4 million motorcoach to quit his judgeship. Earlier this season, he also introduced Mickey Mouse as his new mascot, testing Disney lawyers after learning the original “Steamboat Willie” character was set to enter the public domain. In 2020, a feud between Oliver and the city of Danbury, Connecticut, led the mayor to threaten to name its sewage plant after the host. In response, Oliver said he would donate $55,000 to local charities if Danbury followed through with the idea. It did, and Oliver showed a video of the ribbon cutting at the end of an episode.

“Is this a good idea for a restaurant?” Oliver said during Sunday’s episode. “Who can say? For lots of people, the answer is no, but you’ve got to admit, it is a much better idea than any of Red Lobster’s previous owners have had and at least we’re not bleeding it dry to make a handful of idiots rich, which is what is happening to so many companies nowadays.”

As the show’s credits rolled, Oliver was seen tossing cheddar biscuits to his studio audience.

Those with an HBO or Max login can watch Sunday’s episode, including the Red Lobster segment, on HBO’s website.