 Alex Borstein voices Peter 's wife Lois Griffin , Asian correspondent Tricia Takanawa , Loretta Brown , and Lois ' mother , Barbara Pewterschmidt . Borstein was asked to provide a voice for the pilot while she was working on MADtv . She had not met MacFarlane or seen any of his artwork , and said it was " really sight unseen " . At the time , Borstein was performing in a stage show in Los Angeles . She played a redheaded mother whose voice she had based on one of her cousins . 
