The representation of older adults in audiovisual fiction and its corresponding academic attention is traditionally scarce and biased. In Spanish television series, the inclusion of elderly characters is usually secondary, and based on negative stereotypes, such as unproductiveness, loneliness, ugliness, illness. Television is responsible for the representation of social imaginaries, and it influences over the viewers´ image of the reality of minorities, such as the elderly. For this reason, researchers and teachers in audiovisual communication should pay attention to this panorama and present it to students, as future professionals of the medium. This paper has the main objective of examining the elderly characters in Spanish television series from different periods through a teaching innovation proposal aimed at audiovisual communication students. For this purpose, a qualitative methodology based on the analysis of older characters in different fiction series is proposed. The results of the students' work show an increase in the number and representation of the elderly in fiction, who present a more diverse reality and their own plots, as well as the overcoming of traditional stereotypes. In conclusion, the students reflect on the importance of an accurate representation of minorities in the media, and the positive evolution in the case of older characters in Spanish television fiction.

Keywords: TV Series, older people, Spain, Education, Media Communication.