Editing Friends (section)

=== Season 1 ===
{{Main|Friends season 1}}

The first season introduces the six main characters who live in New York City: [[Rachel Green]], a waitress; professional chef [[Monica Geller]]; her paleontologist brother, [[Ross Geller]]; free-spirited masseuse [[Phoebe Buffay]]; struggling actor [[Joey Tribbiani]]; and Ross's college friend, [[Chandler Bing]], whose precise occupation at a corporation is unknown. Rachel arrives at Central Perk, wearing her wedding dress, after leaving her fiancé, Barry Farber ([[Mitchell Whitfield]]), an orthodontist, at the altar. She moves into her high school friend Monica's apartment, and gets a waitress job at Central Perk.

Ross, who has had a crush on Rachel since high school, often attempts to declare his feelings for her. However many obstacles stand in his way, including his insecurities, Rachel dating an Italian neighbor named Paolo, and the fact that he is expecting a baby with his lesbian ex-wife, Carol Willick (played first by [[Anita Barone]] and then [[Jane Sibbett]]), who gives birth to Ben Geller ([[Cole Sprouse]]) later in the season. Joey never has a steady girlfriend and constantly sleeps with a variety of women. Phoebe is rather odd and complex, mostly due to her mother Lily Buffay's suicide when she was a child and having lived on the streets for a time. However, the gang loves her regardless.

Chandler breaks up with his girlfriend, Janice Hosenstein ([[Maggie Wheeler]]), only to find himself reconnecting with her throughout the series. Near the end of the season, while Ross is at a paleontology dig in China, Chandler accidentally lets slip that Ross loves Rachel, who then realizes that she also cares for him. The season ends with Rachel waiting at the airport for Ross, who is returning from China.