Actress Colleen Camp who previously portrayed Rita's Mother doesn't appear in this movie. The character is apparently killed in an unseen spelunking accident. Camp was apparently difficult to work with and was written out of all future SSD movies at the main casts request.
Actress Carol Burnett who portrays Norman's Grandmother in previous movies was unable to appear in person in this movie and is only seen on computer screens. This was due to scheduling conflicts arising from the CBS Carol Burnett Special that needed re-shoots after Kevin Spacey was removed from the broadcast.