The restaurant critic who gives two thumbs up or down in his reviews is probably based on Roger Ebert, who used the thumbs rating gimmick with his TV co-hosts Gene Siskel and Richard Roeper for many years. Ebert had given zero stars to Larry David's movie Sour Grapes (1998). When asked what he thought of the episode, Ebert replied: "Larry David may have been aiming at critics in general, not at me, since "Sour Grapes" scored a perfect zero among major critics on the Tomatometer. There is a reason for that. "Sour Grapes" was a terrible movie. "Curb Your Enthusiasm," on the other hand, is a wonderful TV show and I like it a lot. I did wince when the critic's thumbs got broken."
Larry drives over Cheryl's foot when he gets out of the car wash.