When Freddy is using his console playing a video game, the video game sounds are those of the classic arcade game "Defender" by Williams Electronics.
The stage set for the spelling bee is the same set, with slight re-decoration, used for Blaine's fund raising scam two episodes earlier in "Wheels of Fortune."
Naomi Judd is the celebrity caller in this episode. She plays the role of Lillian, who has perfectionist tendencies.
The video game Freddy plays midway through the episode is on the original Xbox console -- the controller is unmistakably the signature "Duke" controller. This presumably makes Freddy quite the ardent gamer, as he played a PlayStation game in an earlier episode, "The Apparent Trap (1999)."
This title of this episode is a variation on the the title "War of the Worlds" -- a novel, a radio drama, and movie(s).