Julie Bowen spent much of her time backstage extolling the virtues of Sofia Vergara, saying her costar inspired her to wear a form-fitting neon green fishtail dress. Plus, Bowen added: "[Sofia] doesn't get the credit she deserves as an actress -- she gets it as a celebrity ... but only a few of us understand that what she does is not play herself."

As for those infamous nipple covers Bowen mentioned so many times during her speech, Bowen said she wanted to reference "those little bits of rubber" to get rid of some of "the artifice" of Hollywood.

"We don't pretend to be important in the way international events are," she said. "But I love that Ann Romney and Michelle Obama said 'Modern Family' was their favorite show. That means our show is a place where people can sit on the couch and laughing is the only thing that matters."