The surprise ratings generated by the first Kenny Rogers movie about the Old West professional gambler, Brady Hawkes (from Kenny's hit recording "The Gambler"), making it the single most-watched made-for-TV movie of the 1979-80 season, inspired this sequel running twice as long. Reuniting Kenny with most of the original cast and production crew, including Bruce Boxleitner as the idolizing farmboy, Billy Montana, this second film added to the cast Linda Evans as a gun-toting, bounty hunting saloon performer, joining the two as they set out to retrieve Hawkes' young son who had been snatched from a train by a gang of robbers expecting to find a gold shipment aboard. Equalling the popularity of the original two-hour movie, this two-part four-hour film that received several technical Emmy Award nominations encouraged Kenny Rogers and his manager, Ken Kragen, to push their luck with an even longer, three-part six-hour miniseries continuing "The Gambler" adventures during the 1984-85 TV season.