The First thing I do is delete all the Maxis characters except the Pleasants.  I hate the Goths and Don Lothario too (and their houses suck).  And the Caliente sisters should have stuck to spinning around the stripper pole.  

Then I turn Lilith Pleasant into a lesbian so the Pleasant genes don't spread too much.  If either of the Pleasant sisters get married, I make sure the other sim proposes, so that when the elder Pleasants die, I don't have anyone with stupid last names any more (I also change Goopy Gilscarbo's stupid name in SimPE).