Amy Schumer will play Mr Burns' mum on The Simpsons

Mr Burns and the Simpson family in the Season 28 premiere of The Simpsons. Photo / Fox

Amy Schumer is slated to appear as the mother of prominent Springfield resident Mr Burns on the season premiere of The Simpsons.

The comedian will voice Mrs Burns in flashbacks of the crotchety billionaire's younger days.

"We learn something that might have made him the man he is," executive producer Al Jean told EW.com. We discover he was the equivalent of an internet fail sensation in, like, 1917."

According to Fox's description of the episode, the Simpson family asks Mr Burns to fund the rebuilding of Springfield after the town is "burned to the ground." Mr Burns agrees on the condition that he gets to stage a variety show at the Springfield Bowl (which presumably survives the fire).

Amy Schumer is set to voice Mr Burns' mother in an upcoming episode of The Simpsons. Photo / AP

As noted by Vanity Fair, viewers have already met Mrs Burns - through flashbacks in Rosebud, a classic episode from Season 5 of Fox's long-running animated comedy. There have been other references to her throughout the series.

Schumer is an avowed fan of The Simpsons. In 2014, she told Vulture that her favourite episode is Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish (another classic) from the show's second season. Coincidentally, Mr Burns plays a major role in that episode, launching an ill-advised gubernatorial campaign that was eventually thwarted by Marge Simpson.

Schumer will also lend her voice to the premieres of Bob's Burgers and Family Guy. Over in Quahog, she'll voice a construction crew leader with a 5 o'clock shadow and some zingers in store for Stewie Griffin.